The Black Elephants
by NebulaHeroine
Summary: Kidd is expelled from his old school due to certain circumstances. Thanks to a miracle-worker, he gets into a new school, namely a boarding school in a small village. There he meets three clingy brothers, a swordsman and a cook constantly fighting, a rocker obsessed with his "senpai" and finally his bizarre roommate Trafalgar Law. /KidLaw, AceLu, SabAce, ZoSan, BartoLu/ Rated M!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! :3**

**I have a few things to say regarding the fic:  
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**I AM messing with ages. Like really am. Sorry 'bout that. I know Law is supposed to be elder than Kidd and I originally like it that way too, but an age gap wouldn't make any sense in this fic (sorry!) Also messing with other people's ages, don't get confused when I do.  
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**I'm going to include many ships and a few (kind of) complicated love triangles. Just because I can.**

**Be prepared for eventual cracky OOC:ness. It might occur every now and then (coughcough all of the time)**

**I already apologize if there are any grammatical mistakes or something, I don't have a beta and admittedly I am quite lazy with reading through texts (huehue)**

**Oh and in this chapter I used the Swedish law as a reference (no I am not from Sweden, but I like Sweden :D)**

**I don't know what to say anymore... This is my first fic with my first chappie. Hopefully _someone _will read this :) Oh and one thing more! This chapter is abnormally long, it wasn't meant to get this long. Sorry! :D I'll try to make the next chapter shorter. I'll only update (at my very fastest) once a month, because I have another life besides writing. I think most of my updates will take longer than one month though, so I promise nothing. In case ****someone really reads this, I ask for patience :3 Thank you~**

**Well that was it!**

**~Enjoy~**

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Pain and anguish pierced through all of his collected bravery. He was naturally used to this kind of treatment, there was nothing unfamiliar about it. But even if he was used to it, it always felt equally horrible. Equally slanderous. Equally hateful. Each hit with the wooden ladle hurt like hell, and he wasn't even quite sure whether it was physical or mental pain anymore. Always at some point, he'd lose count of how many hits there been and just fall into some odd trance where he had nothing but pure hatred.

Yes, hatred. That sensation was actually a quite entertaining company. People often found this sentiment objectionable and evil, but when it came to the crunch, it actually was a quite necessary and significant company. Besides, it'd always be there beside you, since it rarely left. It stayed there and kept you strong, unbreakable. It made you unbeatable, even invincible.

Hatred is said to be the curse of this world, but really is a magical spell that gives you unimaginable strength.

Hatred and love are two completely contradicting sensations which still managed to support and strengthen each other in an enigmatic and indescribable manner.

It's all quite peculiar, isn't it?

Suddenly the hits stopped and he knew it was over. His odd trance still remained – it kept reality far away from him. He continued to lie on the bed, closing his eyes, not bothering his naked back covered with his own blood. At some point his elder sister probably came in and tried to speak with him, but at that point he already had fallen into a deep sleep.

§

At the wall on the west side of the building the real fights always happened. It was obvious why the fights occurred there, and nowhere else. There were no security cameras on that side of the building, which meant no surveillance whatsoever. This was the ideal place to beat noisy brats up, which was exactly what Eustass Kidd did. Anyone who hadn't paid him? Beat up. Someone who talked shit about him and his friends? Beat up. A dude flirting with his girls? Beat up. Any kinds of problems were always solved with one, easy solution - violence.

People think that violence never is the solution to anything, but Kidd knew that it was pure bullshit to state something like that. Violence was bad, he knew that, he knew it wasn't good to hit someone. He had naturally been taught that as a child, and he knew how much violence hurt – both physically and mentally. He knew he really shouldn't keep on with this, but he also knew how goddamn efficient violence was. And how impossible it was to escape it.

Once you had entered the world of violence there was no escape. If you were to leave it, you'd be called a coward for eternity, or someone else would simply beat you up. And for a man as prideful as Kidd, he would never be able to live with himself if he'd be the so-called Coward. No, Kidd could accept being anyone else but the Coward. Unfortunately Kidd had made the stupid mistake to accept a challenge from another pupil at the school, and that alone had been enough to drag him into the world of violence. It had all started with a silly quarrel in the line for food in the canteen. Kidd had been too cocky to step down when a noisy brat – also a quite famous delinquent – had tried to jump the queue. It had ended with being challenged to the West Wall, as they called it. Kidd had beaten the cocky brat up and after that people had been expecting miraculous things from him.

That had happened two years ago. Now he was there, by the West Wall again, beating up a stupid brat who hadn't paid Kidd his money. It was quite easy, the scrawny thing was a year younger than Kidd and had barely hit puberty yet. All Kidd had done so far had been to grab the boy by his collar and he was already shaking with fear. Killer was behind him, trying to tell Kidd to take it easy and not to hit him too hard. They didn't want trouble after all. Two of his other friends stood by and watched with smirks on their faces.

"Where the fuck is my money, Tom!?" hissing angrily at the scrawny and tall thing, Kidd pressed the boy against the hard brick wall. The two others snickered and Killer sighed. "Well!?"

"I-I'll g-get it by tomorrow..! A-And my name is not To-"

"I don't fucking care what your name is you shitty brat! You look like a Tom to me so I'll call you Tom if I fucking want to!"

"Yes sir..!"

"I bet you know what's going to happen if you don't bring that shitty money by tomorrow… And since you're two days late we'll take 200% rate, right Killer?" the angry redhead turned his attention towards his most trusted companion. The blonde nodded behind his long locks that covered the most of his face. "Good. So off you go, Tom." Kidd let go of the brat with an aggressive pull.

The scared and lean boy nodded and then sped off, obviously scared to death.

Then the two smirking guys came up to Kidd – the brothers Caribou and Coribou. They were quite shady and disgusting, even Kidd himself thought that, but they were loyal and skilled at stealing booze. And both of them knew how to punch noisy kids if there would be any need for that. Mostly Kidd was the one who did the violent part, though. Killer was the one who looked after the money and made sure everyone paid them. If someone didn't pay in time, Kidd would have a small, nice talk with them. It was all quite easy?

Now, you might wonder what this peculiar system is all about. A logical explanation; Kidd sold booze at the school for lower prices than in the stores. It all based on a simple system that Killer had come up with. Caribou and Coribou would steal alcohol from different stores, only twice a week, exceptionally trice a week. Naturally they had to change stores often, or the owner would start to recognize the pattern. Sometimes they also went to stores in the neighboring town, but that wasn't as often.

The rules were simple, the booze Kidd sold was half the price from what you got from the store. You either paid the same day or the day after, it depended on how trustable the person in question was. If you didn't pay in time the price would always gain a 100% interest rate. Your new price would not double however, since the percentage of the interest rate was always calculated from original price. But the original price could be tripled in only three days if you didn't pay. Often if the person hadn't paid by two days, Killer would ask Kidd to take care of the nuisance. Either Kidd or Daz Bones – another of Kidd's friends.

He wasn't present at the time though. None of them was quite sure where he was, he had just magically disappeared during the lunch break. Oh well, Daz had some business of his own too. It was nothing to get worked up for.

"How're you holding up, Eustass?" Caribou asked and leaned against the wall with the same peculiar smirk on his face. He always smirked like that, especially when business went fine, like it did today. Kidd waved the inquiry off with a nonchalant gesture.

"Whatever. As long as I get our money I'll be satisfied", the redhead let his hand run through his bright hair. He let his amber eyes look at Killer who went through the list of people who had paid and people who hadn't paid. "Well? Anyone else I need to beat up or scare today?"

"Doesn't look like it", the blonde folded the paper and put it into the pocket on the inside of his jacket. Killer was a pretty tall guy, who was quite muscular but still a little lean. He usually carried his longboard with him, the dude was too lazy to walk. He had long blonde hair with thick blonde bangs covering his eyes. Most people found Killer odd and even a bit embarrassing, but Kidd thought Killer was the coolest dude in town.

"Good. Coribou, will ya run after a sandwich for me from the canteen? Dying for food." Kidd asked and sat down on the trash bin close to the brick wall. The fatter and denser brother nodded with a small 'Yea' and then went off. Caribou looked after his brother a while before going after him too, stating that Coribou probably would need help with the food. They all knew how Coribou wasn't quite capable of even paying the correct sum.

"How's your back?" Killer had noticed the slightly stiff movements Kidd had. The blonde naturally knew about Kidd's dad, he had known the redhead since forever. Killer knew that there once had been a time when Kidd had still dared to walk around without his shirt on. Back then Kidd had never had any stiff movements or anything. Now it all had changed. He had seen the bruises and cuts covering Kidd's back once. It had looked simply gruesome.

"Back? Doesn't even hurt. That old man is getting weak and wrinkly", they both knew that what Kidd just had uttered was a dense lie, but neither of them felt like objecting. Neither of them felt for continuing with their discussion on that matter anymore.

Then there was just silence.

This had been a pace that had kept on for almost one year now. Their senior year had just begun two weeks ago, and Kidd was failing in almost each subject. Not that he really gave a fuck. He didn't care for his future, could as well become a truck driver or something. Nothing really mattered for him.

Killer in other hand was a genius student, but the teachers still despised him, probably since he didn't do his homework and skipped lessons. He was smart, but very lazy. And neither did Killer care for his grades. He had other things to care about. Like his mom for example.

Neither of them had a quite peaceful time at home. Killer was constantly worried over his sick mom and his abusive uncle. Kidd – in other hand – had his sisters to look after, because of his alcoholic father. Younger sister Nami and elder sister Nojiko. Nami was his biological sister, the last child Belle-mère had given birth to before passing away. Nojiko was adopted though, since Kidd's mom and dad had thought they wouldn't be able to have children together. Then Kidd had been born, and one year later Nami.

Kidd had several times tried to get rid of his own violence. He didn't want to become like his dad, aggressive, destructive, abusive and mad. But as mentioned earlier, when you once had gotten involved with violence it was almost impossible to escape. And besides, thanks to this very same violence, Kidd also had money to support his sisters and buy himself new clothes regularly. So even if he was forced to beat annoying shitty brats – who still were innocent and small – there still were positive things about it.

"It's still quite warm", Kidd suddenly pointed out. Lunch break was soon over. He had managed to take care of all the shitheads who hadn't paid him his money and Coribou would soon come with his sandwich. He hadn't come still. How odd.

"It's in the middle of August, what did you expect?" Killer said and smiled gently at his dense friend.

Both of them hated their lives, but it was thanks to this hate they had the strength to keep on living.

And furthermore, they had each other after all.

§

Geography class. What on earth do you do with geography? Hah, he just made a funny joke in his head. Earth. Geography. Get it?

No, but really. Kidd was stuck in geography class for the next 45 minutes. And even if the teachers try to assure pupils that 45 minutes really isn't a long time, they wouldn't succeed on fooling Kidd. Kidd knew that 45 minutes could be both really long and really short. It all depended on the circumstances. Currently these devilish 45 minutes would be pure inferno for the redhead though, since geography didn't interest him the slightest. Not that school subjects were particularly interesting anyway.

Oh god how he hated school. Just look at the teacher going on forever, talking about some small, peculiar countries at the end of the whole fucking world. Who seriously had heard about these odd countries before? No one, Kidd assumed. Or perhaps some odd nerd who liked countries.

Deep inside Kidd knew he should try to improve his grades, but he also knew that it would be close to impossible for him to improve all of his grades, especially since he needed extra help in almost each subject. Killer didn't have the time to help him, and they both were too lazy to even bother.

Suddenly, in the middle of inferno, the door to the classroom was opened. The odd geography teacher stopped talking and the headmaster of the school stepped in. He was burly and short, but looked furious. His round face was red of anger. His small, dot-like eyes scanned through the classroom before stopping on Kidd. What now? Had some teacher complained about him again?

"If it isn't too much trouble, I'd like to talk with Eustass here", the headmaster kept on glaring at Kidd with his stupid dot-like eyes. Suddenly everyone's attention was directed to the redhead who sloppily sat on his chair. Kidd rolled his eyes, sighed and then stood up.

He had been through this procedure countless times already. 'Make sure to come to school in time.' 'I hear you've been skipping lessons.' 'Don't you take school seriously?!' No, yes and no. No, he would not make sure to come to school in time, he arrived when the fuck he wanted to. Yes, he skipped lessons, did he look like he cared? No, he did not take school seriously. Very few did.

Kidd nonchalantly followed the stodgy and burly man through the corridors. The headmaster was short but kept on walking with purposeful and angry steps. Kidd admitted that he rarely had seen the headmaster act like this, most of the time he wouldn't be as angry or would speak while they were walking. This time there was only silence. And in some odd manner this kind of silence appeared to be frightening. The frightening silence, only filled with the echo of footsteps. Kidd's amber eyes looked nonchalant and bored, but on the inside he started to feel a little anxious. What had happened? Had someone really gone and tattled about his business? No. That couldn't be it, Kidd had ultimate power in the school; everyone respected him and was afraid of him. So what on earth was this all about then?

Walking in the anguished silence, the tall and muscular redhead looked out through the window. Outside he could see how the school yard lay still. Not a single person – not even an animal – was outside. This odd emptiness made him feel both relieved and even more frightened. Did that even make any kind of sense?

Probably not. Suddenly Kidd could remember all the years he had spent at that big, familiar school yard. He remembered how he had come there three years ago and just felt so small compared to all of the senior students. So vulnerable. Yet, only a year later, he had managed to beat up that prick in the queue, and that he was proud of. Despite this, he still was ashamed of his violence, it painted a primitive and dense picture of him.

Finally, after a long time of quiet torture, they reached the headmaster's office. Kidd already knew how this procedure went, so he sat down on the chair in front of the desk in a known manner. He knew how things worked already. The headmaster didn't sit down though, instead he kept on standing and then turned around to face his window. This was unusual. In fact, this had never happened before. Ever.

"I bet you know why you are here", the voice was sharp, incisive.

To be totally honest, Kidd wasn't quite sure why he was there. The old man seemed furious, even a little scared, so it could not under any circumstances consider the usual matters. That only awakened more inquires though. If he wasn't there for the common procedure, then why on earth why he there?

"I must say that I expected better – even from you", naturally the headmaster kept on speaking without giving Kidd a chance to answer. At least something seemed to be regular today; the headmaster would always ask questions and then answer them himself. "I can't believe none of the teachers realized what kind of… of tyranny, you've been keeping up with at the school! Some peculiar system, threats, violence… You even involved alcohol! Occasionally even drugs!"

Wait a fucking minute here.

Had someone really gone and blabbed to the teachers about him?

Who? Who was the rat who had done that? It struck Kidd so utterly odd that someone actually would have the balls to go against him. They all knew what would happen if someone was to disobey him. That was why Kidd and his friends had their own special table in the school canteen. That was why Kidd and his friends had a special spot on the school yard. That was why everyone would watch out for him when he came in the corridor! So who on earth would have the balls to go and blab about him?! Who would have the balls to go against a dude who was taller and more muscular than anyone else in the school?!

Kidd admitted that he was pissed off. In only a matter of seconds he had grown from shocked to furious. He wanted to know who had done it. Who had gone and ruined it. Who had gone and ruined the wonderful – yet horrible – system that would make sure that both of his sisters would afford sweets and pretty clothes!? Who had ruined his tranquil?!

Somewhere in this fury were anxiety, fear and anguish. How would they manage now, without Kidd's financial support? Dad did nothing anyway, only used up their savings. Nojiko had her bar, but she already worked so hard to pay the bills each month. Now they wouldn't afford new clothes regularly, nor the sweets or the few dinners with meat. And what about Kidd's future? Alright, he could become a truck driver, and that had been his plan all along. But what if no one wanted to hire him since he never would have finished high school? Then his family would be screwed! And what on earth would dad say!? Holy fuck he'd probably get furious..! Kidd could only imagine how much he'd be hit. Would he even be able to walk for the next few weeks?

The redhead nervously gulped and tried to calm himself down. He would not show a sign of shock – not any sign of weakness. No. He was a strong man. No strong man would ever be shocked.

And who knew? Perhaps the headmaster just felt like being dramatic today and this all was just a stupid joke? Yeah, a really stupid, shocking and frightening joke, which felt horribly serious and grave. The worst part of that was, that the headmaster had the worst sense for humor and would never take a joke this far.

"Do you even understand how… how austere this matter is, young man?!" the headmaster's round, burly face only grew redder and redder. Even the shiny and bald parts of his head were slowly growing bright red of fury, which Kidd even found slightly fascinating in some odd manner. Not that this was the most fitting time to be fascinated though, not at all. But he couldn't help the small fascination that showered over him when he discovered the red tint on the burly man's bald. "This is called juvenile delinquency! Do you even understand what that means!?"

"Jubaduba what?" keeping his expression completely cold, he leaned a little backwards with the chair. It clearly angered the other individual more, how he was capable of repeating these serious words with slight sarcasm and ignorance. Not that the mischievous expression calmed his fury at all.

A deep sigh echoed through the office filled with anguish.

"…You know what? I'm just going to give up with trying berating you", suddenly the angry tone was dejected and exhausted. "I've already spoken with your elder sister, since your father won't answer when I call him. I'm sorry but I cannot give you any certificate or rating or anything in that matter. All I can give you is a paper where there is detailed information about your expulsion. You're going to need it if you want to get into another school in this township. Luckily – for the rest of the pupils in this town – none of the other schools in this township are going to take you in. You'd need average grades to get in somewhere else and no school accepts juvenile delinquents in this commune."

Silence occurred, the burly man took this opportunity to walk around the room with small, jerky steps. Kidd had no idea what to say, so he thought it was for the best to keep his mouth shut. Only imbecility would escape through his lips anyway. And currently he had no use for imbecility.

"You have no idea how severe this matter is right?" only one voice had been speaking in the room for several minutes now. "Probably you'll realize the severity when you've spoken with the policemen who are currently sitting in the vice principal's office, only waiting to exchange a few words with you. What you've done is criminal activity after all."

Policemen? Fuck. Fucking shit. Fucking shitty fuck. What the fuck would dad say to this? Kidd could only imagine the pain, the degrading pain, which had caused him nothing but trouble. And what about Nojiko? The old man had apparently already called his elder sister. He could only imagine the disappointment and dissatisfaction she was feeling at the moment.

With unwilling and even slightly shaking steps the redhead followed the headmaster to the room next door. Kidd could barely speak as the two policemen explained the whole situation to Kidd. After a while they got to the point where they asked him to confess everything. They told him how they had spoken with some of his friends, and how they all had told them how they were scared of Kidd. How Kidd had forced him into the whole thing. Forced them into the whole thing? Kidd had never forced anyone to buy from him, ever! The redhead couldn't help but to wonder who on earth they had spoken with. Some freshman-brats or? Barely getting the words out of his mouth, Kidd confessed with a stern and cold voice. He was not going to show any hints of weakness. He was a man, a strong man.

The two policemen had then looked at each other and then the smaller one with odd lips spoke;

"We've looked over your records Eustass", he said with a soft voice. "How is your dad? I heard he never appears during important meetings considering your grades at school. Neither does he answer the phone. From what I've heard, he has been seen kind of… drunk lately. I mean, during the few times someone even has seen him at all. And the people working with him haven't seen him for months either."

"Dad is doing great", even though the husky and uncertain voice, his face was kept expressionless and even a little bored. Again the two men exchanged looks, the headmaster stood in the corner of the room and bit his thumb anxiously. Silently everyone in the room exchanged awkward looks with each other. "…What?"

"You know you can speak with us", the bigger policeman said. "We're not the bad guys here."

'_Oh yes you are. You are the ones who are going to make me unable to walk for weeks. You are the ones who are going to enrage the old man', _Kidd thought and sunk deeper into the chair.

"I _am_ speaking with you."

The smaller policeman sighed.

"Because of your deceased mother and the fact that you haven't turned 18 yet, you have a chance to ease your punishment by certain conditions. And we don't have any solid proof against you either, so… Otherwise you would be sent to jail, because you have done some pretty serious shit", the bigger policeman spoke again. He had a less soft voice and also could swear, which had the smaller one look at him with disapproving eyes.

"Well? Conditions please?"

"Six months of regular therapy. Also work for 150 hours with community service, naturally without pay. Personally I'd recommend working as a janitor in the new school you're attending to", a smile appeared on the bigger policeman's friendly face. The headmaster coughed awkwardly at this, obviously trying to say that Kidd wouldn't get in anywhere. With that the friendly smile slightly faded away, but then awkwardly returned again. "Being a librarian is also quite cool."

"…Therapy?" Kidd spat the word out, voice dripping with venom. "I mean I'm okay with community service, that was kind of clear already, but fucking therapy?! What do you take me as? A crying, hysterical, fucking woman!? Don't compare me with weak-ass bitches! There's nothing wrong with my head!"

"Eustass-"

"No! I won't take any fucking therapy! I'm a fucking man!"

"Well is jail more appealing for you then?"

Suddenly the anger boiling inside of Kidd calmed down and he sunk back down in the chair. He had started to scream and flail so suddenly. He was a bit hot-headed, he had always been. So it didn't surprise him that he suddenly had snapped. But the denomination of jail had gotten all of his fury to cool down to the point that he felt chilly. He had heard about jail, he had heard a lot of that place. The rumors alone had been enough for him.

"…Six months, right?"

"Six months, once a week. If you do get into a school, the school counselor or psychologist can take care of these appointments."

It annoyed him how they all took it for granted that he wouldn't get in anywhere. Well, that was probably true anyway. But it still annoyed him. They all found him dense and weak. A hopeless case. That's probably how they viewed him. A problem child with no genuine future. What's a genuine future anyway? A career, a family and wealth? Or is it adventure, love and new experiences? Or is it successful dinners at Christmas Eve? How did all the adults know?

"I can agree to this godforsaken… _therapy_", once again spitting out the word with voice dripping of venom, Kidd leaned forwards over the table, "if you tell me who those pitiful suckers are. Y'know those pitiful suckers who told you about my business."

"Only if you don't lay a finger on them, Eustass. Not that I think you would lay a finger on your own companions."

Own companions..? What..? Did they mean..?

Did they fucking mean his friends?! Caribou, Coribou, Daz Bones… Even Killer?! Had they all betrayed him that easily?! That explained why the disgusting brothers never had returned with his food during the lunch break, and why Daz Bones had mystically disappeared..! Never before in his entire life had Kidd felt this disappointed and broken before. Not even when his dad had hit him the first time. No, because these had been people he actually had trusted. He had known Killer for years, goddammit! They had told the policemen how he had _forced _them into everything! Fucking cowards! Hadn't they promised each other to never bust each other if a situation like this was to happen!? Fucking lame cowards!

"Only the blonde one with long hair didn't say a word and said you hadn't done a thing."

So Killer had at least been a genuine man. Somehow the redhead felt relieved to hear this. At least he had someone who respected him and would stand up for him. At least Killer was there. At least they still had each other.

He couldn't say he wasn't shocked. He couldn't say he wasn't angry or disappointed or didn't feel betrayed. He was all of these things, and he felt more betrayed than ever. He wouldn't even beat those other shits up. They weren't worth it. Suddenly he just wanted out. He was exhausted. He wanted to feel safe, he wanted to feel safe so that he could let out a little of his frustration. He wanted far, far away from this place. He didn't ever want to so those fucktards again, ever. Not even to kill them in their sleeps ten years later, like a small 'Surprise, motherfucker'. No. He just wanted away and be in peace somewhere.

For the first time in his life Eustass Kidd actually felt like escaping from something else than his dad.

§

The formal trial would be held in a few days - the policemen had assured Kidd that he would surely get the punishment they had offered him, if not even a lighter one. This was mostly because the headmaster had left out some details of the whole story and none of the thefts done in the stores had been caught on a security camera, which meant they had no solid proof of the tyranny. But since Kidd already had confessed everything he would get punished anyway, there was no escape from his punishment.

Not that the youth minded at all, he couldn't care less about that small bagatelle-like punishment. This tiny punishment was nothing compared to the punishment he'd receive from his dad when he finally would arrived home. He wouldn't be conscious after that punishment. He'd probably be sent to the hospital after that punishment. He wouldn't probably reach consciousness for the first days after the punishment either. He could probably miss a therapy session too, because of his father's fury.

And what would he tell the doctor's at the hospital then?

'Didn't watch when I crossed the street, so a car kinda ran over me.'

Or maybe that'd be over-exaggeration?

'Fell down from a hill, clumsy little me!'

Would that be believable? Maybe if the hill was very, very steep. Hah, that was a tad symbolic was it not? He would mentally fall down from a very steep hill at least.

The weather was idyllic, which in turn was completely ironic to Kidd's current situation. An idyllic day filled with shitty – if not infernal – luck. Or perhaps it wasn't luck, but fate punishing him for his reckless and violent behavior? Unfortunately he couldn't tell – he had never been that into philosophy anyway. Thinking wasn't his thing. He was more of a doer than a thinker. He probably would need a thinker by his side, telling what to do and what not to. Killer was quite the thinker, but he was too lazy to even think, and therefore could be considered a doer. Did that even make any kind of sense?

Oh well whatever. The weather was stupidly idyllic anyway. Blue skies, fluffy clouds which resembled the beautiful land where Hercules lives and a warm, caressing wind. You know that perfect combination at the end of each movie with a classical happy ending? Yea, it was exactly like that. Lush, green trees and bushes and all of that other shit. Not that the vegetation was so remarkably lush at this time of the year, it was in the middle of August after all. The hot period had stolen all of the water and had burnt the usually bright green grass to a more yellowish-green. Not that any of this really mattered for Kidd, he actually couldn't care less about it. At least not right now.

Walking with inconsolable and hopeless steps towards his home, the red-haired young man caught his own reflection in the mirror of a shop. He looked at himself while passing window after window. He was tall, a good-looking musculature adorned his tall figure and on the top of his figure bright red hair was standing upwards. Because of his red hair he had a really faint color on his eyebrows, so he usually shaved them off since that gave him a more characteristic and distinguishing look. He wasn't anyone after all. He wanted people to remember him, since he only had this one, rare life to live.

Block of flats after block of flats passed by him. Doubtful and shaky steps, like from a frightened child, echoed through the now empty streets. He lived in the utterly poor part of the town, furthest away from the center. In the center of the town there were all the shopping centers and offices and movie theatres and those things, you know. It was the fanciest part of the whole town, at least during nights with all of the bars and clubs. Then there was a small circle around the rich and wonderful center consisting of the wannabe city people, who weren't as rich as the ones who lived in the Rich Suburb. This area was called the City Ring. These peoples pretended they were too cultural to live in a suburb; they absolutely _had_ to be close to the opera house. Then, right after this was a ring of peculiar small shops where you could get either wonderful delicacies or horrible knick-knacks. This ring was called the White Elephant, perhaps mostly because of all the useless tats you found there.

And then there was one last ring - before a pretty long distance to the Rich Suburb that is. This ring had received the nickname the Black Elephant, as a stupid joke to the White Elephant. A white elephant can at least be valuable or even beautiful in some way, so to speak. But people in this town joked that a black elephant wasn't even beautiful in any way, even less valuable. This was where Kidd lived, in the Black Elephant, the useless, ugly and cheap part of the town. The shame of the town. Kidd belonged to the shame of the town, and sometimes – like this day for instance – that knowledge could hurt like hell.

From the beautiful Town Park, to the block of flats with wannabe city people and from there forwards to the peculiar shops. Currently walking through the White Elephant, avoiding the vendors as well as he could, Kidd once again caught a glance of his own reflection. He could detect the clear fear in his eyes. He really tried his best not to shake with the tremendous fear bubbling inside of him. Not only fear bubbled inside of him, however. Anger, disappointment and exhaustion had also conquered a big space of his mind. No words could possibly describe the huge, sweltering sensation pushing him down at the moment. His closest friends had betrayed him, even if he had found the stupid brothers disgusting in some way he still had spent a lot of time with them. He had befriended them, trusted them and protected them from possible bullies. He had drunk himself smashed with Daz Bones, he had tried to teach Coribou poker and had told Caribou countless of jokes. And this was what he got as a thank you?

Suddenly the young man realized he had reached the despicable Black Elephant. He took his time to look at the dirty and filthy streets, which looked so indescribably repulsive – so hideous – that he just felt like falling to his knees. This was his home; these streets were a part of the environment of his home. This was his home right now and would probably be in the future too.

Somewhere in all of the gruesomeness, in the forgotten streets consisting of the losers and shame in the world, was a sensation of safety and certainty. He knew these streets like the back of his palm after all. He had lived here for the past five years, ever since they hadn't had enough money to live in the City Ring. These five years of his life had been complete torture for him though, since not even a month after his mom's death his dad had become an alcoholic.

When his mom had died seven years ago, dad had snapped. He had started to drink almost immediately, Kidd remembered how it gradually had become worse and worse. His dad had loved and adored his mom so much – she had been his only light and hope. Then she had died and left him alone, and so alcohol had become his only consolation. However, he had tried to sober up one year later, which had been followed with a period of tranquil. A period that had only been six months long, he had tried to be strong and help his children overcome the sorrow too. Well, when the six months had passed he got distant and started to work like hell and slowly forgot everything about his children. This time he hadn't been alcoholic, but workaholic. Finally he had made the mistake to go on one of the parties held at the company he was working at. And then he had started to drink again, while a violent behavior gradually had started to appear.

Naturally Kidd's dad had been fired from the company a long time ago. Despite this, the old man had tried to sober up now and then and had gotten several other jobs for short periods. Currently he was supposed to work as a cashier – his CV had been completely fucked up because of his alcoholism, and so very few places hired him.

The one providing for the family was Nojiko, who had dropped out of school to start working at an early age. She had saved a hell lot of money throughout her years with loads of shitty jobs and now owned a small, relatively successful, bar. She paid the bills each month – both for the flat and the bar, and also made sure they got new clothes when they literally had nothing to wear. She was also the one who made sure they got food regularly. She was Kidd's hero. He didn't want to call her a heroine, heroine's always wear slutty clothes in those comics anyway. Nojiko wasn't a slut, neither was she a weak-ass bitch. She was a strong, independent woman whom Kidd adored.

Awkward and shaky hands reached for keys. Kidd barely got the door open to his own home, he closed his eyes and listened carefully if there was any noise in the flat. He could feel his heart beating, it felt like it tried to punch through his chest. Was dad at home or not? Was he? Was Kidd going to be able to walk for the next three hours or not?

It appeared to be completely silent, except someone doing dishes in the kitchen. Judging from the light and careful way to treat the plates, Kidd could tell that the one in the kitchen was Nojiko. There was no trace of dad. This literally made the young man exhale of relief.

"Welcome home, troublemaker."

"How'd you tell it was me?" taking off his shoes in a calm manner, the redhead stumbled into the apartment. Fear had left him the same moment he had realized that his dad wasn't present. This meant that he wouldn't be roasted alive for the next three hours. Anxiety was, however, still lingering around him. Mostly because he didn't want to see how disappointed and destroyed Nojiko would look. And also because he knew he'd be roasted alive later anyway.

"You're like a giant, you've heavy footsteps", Nojiko remarked while letting her slender hand clean the plate with a caressing move. A nervous chuckle was heard and Kidd entered the kitchen, throwing his leather jacket at one of the chairs by the table, and then shortly sitting down on the same chair.

"Heavy? Flattered. Means I'm gaining some muscle."

"Or then you're just fat."

"Not fat."

After this awkwardly short sentence there didn't come any sarcastic comments from the woman anymore. Silence occupied the space between them, even the small noise from the dishes died out. The hands taking care of the dish stopped and then the tall, curvy figure turned around and leaned against the sink. Trying his best to look back with earnest and honest eyes, Kidd finally gave in and so his gaze dropped.

"I bet you've been scolded enough, and I really don't feel like starting any fight right now", the rag was put away and hands were dried in the dirty, pink towel hanging on the wall by the sink. "I understand why you did what you did. You must feel frustrated because of him, right? I'm sorry – I haven't been the best sister. I should have contacted someone or stood up for you. I was just so-", the sweet voice cracked and tears dropped down to the floor. "I was just so afraid… We'd be separated..!" Gasping for air the young woman covered her mouth with the palm of her tanned hand.

Kidd immediately stood up from the chair he just had sat down on and with hurried steps walked to his sister. He put his big hand on her shoulder and tried to look her in the eyes, but she kept on looking away.

"Hey, c'mon, of course you've been the best sister", the hand squeezed her shoulder a little. "You've had troubles of your own and… I mean you're only one year elder than me anyway! It's not like you should take some major responsibility here only 'cause you're the eldest!"

"You… are an idiot", sobbing a little, Nojiko let a small smile paint her face into a happier one. "But seriously, I should have contacted someone… And Nami has only distanced herself more and more and…"

"Let her experiment with her own stuff. She's in the age where you do a lot of crazy-ass shit and then end up regretting it, but it's necessary for her to try out as much as possible to find her own alley", the hand left the shoulder and eyes finally met each other, after some desperate chasing. Sobs left Nojiko's mouth as she suddenly let out an absurd giggle.

"You talk as if you're an old geezer… And yet you're the one who's experimenting with all of these crazy-ass shits", she looked up at her younger brother who without permission had shamelessly grown to be both taller and bigger than her. It felt both odd and safe to be around him when he was so much taller than her.

"I promise I've done enough of experimenting for now", Kidd sighed and leaned against the sink too, standing next to his elder sister. "It was stupid all along and I knew I shouldn't have done all of that shit but sometimes… Sometimes it just felt so goddamn good to hit someone else, and not the other way around..! Lately I didn't feel that way tho', I only felt bad for beating up those small brats. But I got money, so it summed up for it. Kinda."

"Kidd, you can't stay here. Dad will slay you."

"I know… I'll probably go off to Killer's. He'll hunt me down though. Dad, I mean. But it'll give me a few days to prepare myself", awkwardly chuckling, Kidd scratched the back of his head. "But then again, I really shouldn't leave you two with him. He has tried to hit you before and if I'm not around then…"

"…Did you tell the policemen anything about dad?"

"Nope. Better that way. As you said, we could be separated. And besides, it'd only cause loads of trouble. I don't feel like dealing with that kind of shit right now. I'd rather take care of this all by myself, and besides I'm the one who caused this in first hand. Involving you guys only makes things complicated, and we've both noticed how dense I am, I wouldn't keep up with that kind of complication", he chuckled dryly at what he had said.

Suddenly Kidd felt incredibly shitty. He was dumb, he caused trouble, which he knew Nojiko would be forced to take care of and he was only in the way all the time. Was he even good at anything? He wasn't smart, he didn't know anything at all and he had no remarkable talent. He was the worst. Suddenly he craved for his dad to beat him up – he deserved it. Right now he deserved it. He felt like nothing would be good if he wasn't punished properly for his actions. He had done some serious shit and he deserved punishment.

"Doesn't matter Kidd… Doesn't matter, you're really handy", Nojiko patted her younger brother's head, an old habit from the time when he still had been tiny. She could sense that Kidd was scared – horrified to say the least. She had noticed that the moment he had stepped into the apartment. But of course he didn't want her to notice his fear; he wanted to be a strong man after all.

"…So how do we do now?"

"I… I'll come up with something, for now you'll stay at my bar. I'll tell dad you're working there full-time, so he won't get angry", crossing her arms the lean woman put a serious and determined expression upon her graceful face. Kidd couldn't help but to notice the light pink lipstick she was wearing and so he couldn't help but to think of how she soon wouldn't afford lipstick anymore, since he didn't make money anymore. "Pack your stuff, you're coming to my bar."

"You sure that'll be fine? I mean… I'll probably be in the way in your bar and stuff…" Kidd scratched his left arm awkwardly and hesitantly looked at Nojiko.

"No, you'll come in handy for me, one of the bartenders is sick so you can take his place. Now go and pack your stuff already!" Nojiko playfully pushed her younger – yet bigger and sturdier – brother out of the kitchen. "I'll only give you a few minutes!"

"Okay, okay I'm packing! Geez…"

§

Before Kidd knew it, the trial had already been held and he had received his suspended sentence. It had ended up being 150 hours of work as a sanitation worker without pay. He had already decided to work as many hours a week as possible to quickly get over with it. According to the law he was only allowed to work two times a week with sessions consisting of three hours, the rest of the time he was supposed to spend studying or searching for a work. And so the redhead was forced take 26 therapy sessions, which meant one session once a week for half a year. A psychologist who had been present at the trial had said that she'd recommend further treatment for Kidd. Great. Just fucking great. Not only did they think he was an idiot, but they also thought he was mentally ill.

Well, at least it had been a very mild judgment. In fact, Kidd was sure that he actually deserved something much more severe, like a trip to prison or something. Somehow the whole judgment felt a tad miraculous, and somehow it felt like Nojiko was behind it. Had she bribed them or spoken with them before the trial? Perhaps she had told them about dad? That seemed like a thing she'd do – only to ease the punishment. Despite being ashamed of his weakness against his dad, Kidd was grateful that his punishment had been so mild.

The past days had been quite absurd and messy. Mostly his days consisted of sleeping under bar counters while his nights were spent working as a bartender. At the same time he was desperately trying to come up with a sensible plan for his future. Sometimes he could feel how everything around him would just start spinning randomly. During those times he usually was forced to sit down for a few seconds to make the spinning stop, and while doing so he would feel unexpected exhaustion fall over him. But then again, whenever he was supposed to close his eyes, sleep wouldn't arrive and so he would anxiously roll around on the mattress instead.

Memories were hunting him and fear made him turn around all the time. Nojiko had assured him that dad was okay with Kidd working and that he had been quite calm the past days, but he still couldn't help but to worry. Especially not since he knew how easily dad could grow angry and hit someone. What if he'd really hit Nojiko or Nami? He wouldn't be able to live with himself if that was to happened.

The first days at the bar Kidd had felt sick all the time. It had felt like his stomach had been hardly knot while someone had been trying to rip his viscera out. A highly harrowing sensation. Luckily the nauseous feeling had slowly faded away and left him alone, so only faint anxiety and fear were accompanying him for the moment. Not even hatred was present, which Kidd found kind of odd and refreshing.

Currently the hands of the clock ticked a few minutes after two. This was the time when the young man would slowly wake up. His circadian rhythm had been completely fucked up during the past few days, thanks to the nocturnal work. Slowly sitting up, Kidd let out a big yawn and stretched his arms a little. His back was sore because of the thin mattress and the uncomfortable pillow. He was not to complain though, this was all Nojiko had been able to offer. And besides, it was possible that his back felt so sore because of the beating a few days earlier. His dad had snapped quite badly for some reason back then.

The morning tranquil was always equally wonderful. Equally peaceful. It was a tad ironic how he was capable of finding peace in this horrible soup he had managed to create. But he thought it was important to find this kind of tranquil in the middle of hysteria. How would you otherwise be capable of going through it?

Humble sun rays pierced through the blinds covering the only window in the whole bar. It so happened, that the sun rays landed straight on Kidd's face, making the said redhead slightly irritated. With a small grunt, the young man stood up and reached for the plastic bag next to the mattress. In this very same plastic bag, he had packed as many things as possible with him a few days earlier. It had taken him a two larger bags and this plastic bag to pack everything he owned, since he possessed a lot of knick-knacks which took a lot of space. He didn't have so many clothes though, but he actually didn't care about that. Taking fresh and new clothes from the plastic bag, Kidd sighed and stumbled to the staff toilet in the back of the bar.

Only a few minutes later the young man had managed to get dressed and had brushed his teeth. He felt a tad shabby since he didn't have any access to a shower, the last time he had showered had been two days ago when he had been over to the indoor swimming pool in the center of the town. Not only did he feel shabby though, but also very lonely. He didn't have the time to meet so many friends, however he had managed to meet Killer a few times and talk about everything happening at the moment. Kidd was glad that he still had Killer by his side, and even more glad that he hadn't encountered with any of the betrayers. He didn't want to see them.

Suddenly thirst had crawled up for his throat, making his throat dry and itchy. Reaching for an empty glass from the bar counter, Kidd quickly filled it with water and eagerly quenched his thirst. By licking his dry lips, he immediately made them feel moister and less dry. Naturally he had heard of how licking dry lips only worsened the condition, but honestly, he couldn't care about that right now.

In the middle of his morning peace he could hear how the front door to the bar was opened. Kidd raised an eyebrow and couldn't help but to wonder why his elder sister would come to the bar so early, it opened eight o'clock anyway.

"Hiya?" from the bar counter you couldn't see to the front door, but Kidd was completely positive that it was Nojiko entering the bar.

Soon the light footsteps came closer to the bar counter and shortly afterwards Nojiko sauntered into the room with a small smile upon her painted lips. Kidd smiled back at her, whilst he could tell that something was odd about her behavior. Utterly odd. Her smile was both proud and revealed, while being exhausted and sad at the same time. Strange, right?

"I have great news, troublemaker", she put her bag on the bar counter and then with the help of her hands sat down on it. She dangled with her legs childishly before finally turning her gaze back at Kidd. "I got you into a new school."

"What!? Really? That's fucking awesome! How the hell did you manage to do that?" despite hating school, Kidd still longed back. He longed back to a social life with friends and to the safe zone where there was no dad that hit him. Going to school meant several hours without beating. And since it was a new school, he always could try to improve some of his grades and perhaps get some kind of better job than driving trucks. He could even repeat a year! And that was all thanks to the fact that the pupils at the new school wouldn't know about his violence, and wouldn't call him a coward for not hitting! He could avoid being the Coward without having to resort to violence!

"Listen up here, troublemaker", Nojiko smiled at her excited little brother and motioned for him to get closer. She caught his face with her hands and stared into his eyes with a very serious gaze. "This time you are not going to fuck up, alright? You are going to go to your lessons, you are going to make the best of it and you are going to go on those therapy sessions. You are going to study for tests, you are going to take extra lessons if needed and you are going to ask for help from the teachers if you need ig. Got it?"

"Got it. Right. Of course, I'll do my best. I'll even repeat a year if I have to, or something."

"Let's see about repeating a year, one year was already expensive enough."

Wait… Was it some kind of expensive private school? Or what did she mean? Had she paid it for him? Suddenly Kidd felt shittier again – he didn't like it when Nojiko did so much for him but never cared for herself.

"Huh? What do you mean? Is it some kind of special school or?" Kidd frowned in confusion, while Nojiko giggled and let go of his face.

"It's a school meant for troublemakers like you, a school meant for… black elephants like us", the blue-haired woman crossed her legs and searched for something in her brothers eyes. "Don't worry, it's not a school for retards. It's a school for people like you, who have done some serious shit and therefore get special lessons and stuff to improve their grades. It costs a lot since it's a boarding school and the teachers there are all very professional. And of course, there are also many pupils there who haven't been active in criminality, but are going to that school because they have rich parents who are unhappy with their children's grades."

"Wait a sec here… B… Boarding school?"

"Yea, it's close to a small village like three hours from here. Your train leaves tomorrow at seven in the morning, so that you'll be there for lunch", explaining everything to Kidd, the tattooed woman played with her blue hair a little. "You have to start packing today, and go early to bed too. You can visit us on weekends if you want to, but I guess it'll be for the best if you stay there and study, at least for the first weekends. Oh, and you're going to get to work as a janitor at the school, only a few hours a week though. But great anyway, right? I've already spoken with the principal about it. And about those therapy sessions you hate, you're going to the school psychiatrist on Wednesdays after your lessons. I bet some of the pupils at your new school are going to tell you more about the rules and I really don't know anything else so-"

"How the hell did you afford this?" Kidd knew that a school like this was expensive as hell, at least for people like them. He felt bad about having Nojiko go through so much trouble just because of him. He could sense that she was tired and he had noticed how she had gotten some pretty nasty bags underneath her eyes.

Nojiko looked away with sorrowful eyes and at that instant Kidd knew what she had done.

"I had to use all of my savings. The savings for a house in the countryside, you know..." Nojiko looked back at Kidd who just stared back at her with blank eyes.

"No…" Kidd gasped for air and kept on staring at Nojiko in disbelief. She had spent all of her savings throughout the years to cover up for Kidd's failures. How shitty could he be? How horrible? He was the worst brother ever..! "You shouldn't have..! Not for me..!"

"Kidd, you need to get a proper education, y'know", the blue-haired and graceful woman continued to speak, not bothering of what Kidd just had uttered. "I want you to get a steady and proper future, unlike me. I just had huge luck with my bar and all… So that's why – whatever you do during this year – don't fuck up, okay?"

§

Three hours had quickly been spent in nervousness and eager. Outskirts of the town had slowly been exchanged with a countryside landscape, consisting of wide, yellow fields, ready to be ploughed. Up in the naked sky some birds flied, feeling pure freedom underneath their wings as they flapped forwards. Further away from the town – or could it be called city? – there were rarely any houses left, only some lonely mansions and farms. Once the train had passed a man working in his garden, his had been hands dirty and his knees muddy. Despite this his face had been adorned with a quite glad expression. It had brought Kidd nostalgia from his childhood, from the time when mom had been alive and dad had been well.

Regardless, three hours had passed fairly quickly. Countryside landscapes had swished by and soon Kidd found himself on a small train station in a small, picturesque village. Stepping out of the train, he quickly found the tiny train station completely empty. There was literally no one there. Shrugging awkwardly at the dusty train station, the tall redhead grabbed his luggage half-heartedly and made it to the old, yellow wood building in front of him. Somehow it reminded him of cheese, it perhaps had something to do with the fact that he was starving. He had eaten breakfast for several hours ago and the tickling nervousness had made him quite hungry. Well, not that anything could be done about that right now.

Inside of the building sat an elderly woman behind a glass window and smiled kindly at Kidd who aimlessly walked around. Otherwise the hall seemed to be as empty as the train station itself; there were only empty benches and some lonely trash bins. In one of the corners of the hall was one abounded-looking, closed cafeteria. It was by far the smallest train station Kidd ever had seen which he found quite relaxing. Small was good for him, it was a nice change.

"I suppose the taxi waiting outside is for you", the old woman spoke carefully, still smiling with a sincere and friendly smile. She nodded towards the other exit of the building, where a taxi apparently would be waiting for him.

"Ok, thanks lady", it was an awkward thank you, but it was all he was able to give her. He waved awkwardly at her and with that he walked out of the cheese-like building, which strangely had smelled cheese too. Come to think of it, the kind lady might have been eating a cheese sandwich of some sort. Or had it been cheese flavored chips? He had already forgotten.

Outside a taxi had been waiting indeed. And it really had been a taxi ordered for Kidd. The driver had been utterly talkative and had asked Kidd several questions, and kept on repeating how happy he was that new students were arriving. Apparently the boarding school was really wealthy and was a great part of the small village's incomings. The driver spoke about how the hardworking boys could be surprisingly kind, if you only spoke to them with the right attitude. The boarding school was namely a school for only boys.

Finally, for after what felt like ages, Kidd arrived at the rumored boarding school he was supposed to attend to. When he had told Killer on the train – he had naturally called his best friend – Killer had been both surprised and impressed. The boarding school was patently very famous. Usually students with the shittiest grades would graduate with average, if not even remarkably good grades. The teachers were all super inspirational, or that was what Kidd had been told at least. Also it seemed that this school had amazing facilities, which was nothing but a positive fact.

Stepping out of the car, the urge to smoke grew rapidly. Out of habit, Kidd reached for the package of cancer sticks in his pocket. Luckily he managed to stop himself, he could obviously tell that smoking wasn't permitted at the boarding school. So, he decided to bite his lower lip as he witnessed the large, white building towering in front of him. There were a few other similar buildings around the main one, but they were all a tad smaller. All of the white and majestic buildings looked modern and clean, even surprisingly beautiful and nice. In front of the so-called main building was a fountain with a small statue in the middle of it. Ironically enough, the vigorous statue portrayed a small, dancing black elephant.

The driver gave Kidd his luggage from the trunk of the car. Wishing good luck and waving goodbye, the driver drove away and left Kidd to his fate. Well, there was no turning back now, was there?

Before the nervous redhead even could come up with what to do next, a monstrously large, young man came out of the main building. He stodgily and bulkily hurried towards Kidd. He looked both retarded and fat, in Kidd's opinion. However, the redhead knew that the size of the young man wasn't fat but muscles and an abnormally burly framework. He could tell that this guy was a student because of the school uniform he was wearing.

"Uhh… Hi..?" Kidd tried awkwardly as the large _thing _was huffing and puffing in front of him. Had that really been that much of a physical exercise for the dude? Suddenly Kidd couldn't help but to wonder whether the abnormally large guy was a steroid abuser. He certainly looked like one. And he honestly looked like he was suffering from some minor mental disability or something.

"Jean Bart", the young man nodded sincerely and immediately proceeded to pick up the luggage for Kidd.

"Thanks. So uhh, your name is Jean Bart? Cool. I guess. I'm Eustass Kidd."

"Eustass? Yes, I heard your name, Smoker told me earlier. I was not to forget it, he told me", the abnormally large thing smiled half-heartedly, but Kidd could tell that there really was emotion behind the half-crooked smile. So far he hadn't detected anything negative about the place. The buildings looked spacey and modern, the garden was beautiful and he could see a large sports field further away from the buildings. And the ridiculously idyllic weather must have been a sign too. The only thing that had given the place minus points had been the small, dancing black elephant. Well, it wasn't the school's fault so that one really didn't count either. "Come, follow me, I'll show you around. We can leave your luggage here on the steps, no one will take anything, and there are security cameras. They are good. They see if something happens."

"Okay, you know the best after all", Kidd shrugged and then followed the abnormally large guy who clumsily walked purposefully forwards. Something about his honest attitude painted a really cool and wonderful picture of the school. What if every student really was this cool and honest here? It was like a dream come true.

Jean Bart seemed to be a fairly laconic character, which suited Kidd's taste more than well. They simply walked from place to place in a logical order and at each stop Jean Bart would simply say; "Sports field" or "Dorm for the juniors" or something similar. He was very few of words, in a slightly humorous way. Each place of the whole school looked very homely and well-managed, much fancier than Kidd's place back home. The school even had a small rectangular building made mostly of glass where there was a swimming pool, a sauna and a gym. It really was like a dream come true, especially when Jean Bart told Kidd that one was allowed to train as much as they wanted after the lessons.

After the short round-trip, they came to the canteen that now was almost empty of pupils. The canteen was situated in the so-called main building, where all the classrooms also were. On the fifth floor was also the infirmary and the school counselor's office, along with the principal's office. Apparently the main building also had an auditorium, another gym – meant for the P.E. lessons – and finally a big stage where several kinds of events could be held. Currently the two of them found themselves in the modern and clean canteen. Jean Bart brought Kidd to a small circular table by the window, this was obviously the table he always sat by. He told the redhead to sit down and then brought both himself and Kidd some food. Kidd had to admit that the food here looked both more delicious and healthier.

"So you like it here so far, Eustass?" Jean Bart asked after a while of silence, while another group of boys left the canteen. Apparently they had a really long lunch break and were planning on spending it with watching TV in the lobby, or that was at least what Kidd had happened to overhear.

"Seriously? This place is like fucking heaven compared to my old school", there was no point in lying. Why would he give the place worse feedback than it was worth? The place was fucking delicious in every way.

The only thing that he missed was women. He wanted something pretty to watch too, but he supposed he could cope with one year without the delicacy of women. He slightly missed the last girl he had banged in Nojiko's bar a few nights ago, when he had been supposed to work. He still felt a tad guilty for doing that during work, but oh well. Sometimes there just existed so beautiful people that you simply couldn't keep yourself from being drawn to them. And besides, Kidd had lain with guys before too, so if he really would get desperate, he wouldn't mind the second option either. Moreover, some guys could be even more beautiful than women, but that was rare.

"Really? That is good then. Oh and don't cuss in front of Smoker, he hates it. Just warning", Jean Bart wiped away the mayonnaise from his cheek with the sleeve of his navy blue school uniform. Come to think of it, Kidd still hadn't gotten one of those. Despite his dense appearance, Jean Bart seemed to notice the stare Kidd gave him and understood it. "Don't worry. There are some ready for you in your room."

"Oh okay, I see", nodding at the information approvingly, Kidd suddenly remembered an important question he had been meaning to ask. "Oh by the way, does one share their room with anyone? I mean, it always got a little unclear for me."

"Yes, everyone usually has one roommate", the large guy took a bite of his sandwich, looking rather disgusting while doing so. And that was coming from Kidd, not some oversensitive girl. "You're actually both very lucky and very unlucky with your roommate."

"Huh? What do you mean? Is he horrible or?"

"No, no… Trafalgar is really cool, I like him a lot. Everybody does. But he can be a little scary sometimes, but not too much. And he's super kind once you get to know him better. It's just to get him to open up first", Jean Bart nodded to his own statement approvingly, as if he just had uttered one of the deepest words ever.

"Trafalgar? Is his name Trafalgar?"

"Trafalgar Law."

"What? That's a really stupid name! Trafalgar as in Trafalgar Square?" Kidd burst out in laughter, almost choking on his juice. He would soon stop with the cackling though, since Jean Bart stood up with an angry aura around him. "Huh..? What's wrong?"

"Don't make fun of Trafalgar."

Kidd stared at the guy for a while, finding his attempt to be intimidate ludicrous. As if empty threats would actually scare him. He could as well show this fucker why he had been sent to this school. Luckily he managed to stop himself. There was no point in resorting to the same kind of evilness he just had desperately escaped from. Instead he'd try to make friends – friends were always good to have. At least some that didn't betray you.

"Right, sorry. I won't." Kidd knew he hadn't so much to say anyway, his name was fucked up as well. Eustass, spelled with 'ass' instead of 'ace', as in Eustace. And he had never particularly liked his first name either. Kidd. It sounded like some lazy dumbfuck had named him, since they hadn't come up with something better. But yeah, it seemed that Jean Bart actually really liked this Trafalgar-guy and didn't just spit out some shallow words to appear kind.

"Good", with that Jean Bart calmly sat down again and continued eating in his clumsy manner.

§

He couldn't believe how homely and cozy the dorm rooms were. They were modern, with clean windows and fresh walls. It was certainly an environment which Eustass Kidd was not used to. He was used to a slightly shabby home, with broken furniture and an aroma of alcohol constantly lingering around. So when he now had lain down on the comfortable bed, and took a deep breath of the fresh air, he actually couldn't believe that he was where he was.

The left part of the room was like Kidd's territory, which suited him more than well. He would have preferred the left side anyway, for the childish reason that he was left-handed. But yeah, the left part of the room was like his territory. The bed, the wardrobe and the small nightstand – those all were his own personal space. Naturally the exact same fitments were found on the right side of the room too. There was also a desk in the dorm room, but it was placed more in the roomie's territory than in Kidd's, and it was meant to be shared. The bathroom was also meant to be shared, which was completely understandable, it would have been ridiculous if each student would have had access to their own personal toilets. But the best thing of the room had to be the small balcony. Even though the dorm room was on the ground floor, it still was about one meter over the ground, and so they had built small, picturesque balconies to the rooms on the south side. The balcony was in the middle of the two beds, giving them a view over the small pond next to the school.

Sighing of pure happiness, the redhead smiled for himself and looked up at the ceiling. The bed he currently was lying on was much more comfortable than the bed he had at home. And the whole room was much cleaner and fresher than his old bedroom. There were so many positive things about the whole school, there surely had to be _something _fishy about it. Perhaps the teacher would be real crazy after all? Jean Bart had mentioned something about some Smoker getting angry when you cussed. What if that Smoker guy would start to hit you if he caught you cussing? And by the way, what was up with that odd nickname for him? Smoker? Did he smoke or was it just a stupid nickname to annoy him?

Kidd couldn't tell, and really didn't feel like judging the school just yet. He didn't want to stamp the place as perfect either, because if it wouldn't be revealed as perfect as he had imagined, he would get really disappointed. Deciding not to think of the matter anymore, Kidd glanced at the clock on the nightstand table right beside him. He still had approximately twenty minutes before he was supposed to meet the principal and the school counselor. Ah, long lunch breaks really were the best. He had packed up his stuff in only a few minutes and had already thrown them into his own wardrobe and lined up all of his knick-knacks on his furniture. After that he had decided to spend the break with resting, since he didn't know anyone to hang out with yet, except Jean Bart who had left after their small lunch together. He probably had his own friends to take care of.

Speaking of making friends and such, Kidd could hear how someone opened the door to the dorm room with a soft click. He immediately sat up to make a little better first impression on his new roommate; they would be stuck with each other for the incoming year anyway so.

Swallowing nervously Kidd watched the tall and slender figure, which entered the room graciously. Oh. Oh so _this _was Trafalgar Law. Oh, Kidd could tell why Jean Bart had told him he was lucky to share the room with him. Long, thick eyelashes, a charming smile, a tall and slim figure that was softly tanned, dark hair and beautiful gray eyes, looking at him curiously. He had tattooed hands, a small goatee growing on his chin and two golden earrings dangled in each of his ears. This was not any guy, but a very beautiful guy. There were rarely dudes that looked good, and if they did, they usually were annoying smart-ass snobs. If this guy was at this school, it mostly meant that he was an idiot. Perfect. Maybe Kidd would survive this year without women after all?

"Uh hi, I'm your new roommate", Kidd awkwardly looked at the dark-haired guy who carefully placed his keys on the delivery table close to the door. How could anyone be unlucky to share a room with a guy like this? He was one of those rare cases, when a man actually was attractive for Kidd. Usually Kidd only banged women, but occasionally he would want dudes too. Especially delicious-looking ones, like Trafalgar Law apparently was.

"Ah yes, you must be Eustass-ya", a friendly smile appeared on his lips. "Jean-ya told me. I'm Trafalgar Law. I hope we'll get along."

Eustass-ya? Jean-ya? What an odd way of addressing people. Oh well, Kidd forgave him because of his gracious way of walking forwards. In fact, the gait was quite flirty. Even seductive.

"Yeah, I hope so too", not finding the right words to say, Kidd found himself being hypnotized by the seductive way of walking. The slim guy smiled, this time in a flirty manner and looked at Kidd with his gorgeous eyes. He bit his lip and shamelessly checked Kidd out. Oh, this was interesting indeed. Didn't Trafalgar Law have any kind of shame? Well, not that it mattered. A fuck-buddy was always nice to have, at least at isolated schools like this.

"Hey, Eustass-ya, let me introduce myself in a more… hm… _proper manner_", Trafalgar smiled in the flirty manner again and now walked to stand completely next to Kidd. "Lie down on the bed and let me take care of the rest. Don't worry, I'll make you feel real good."

"O…Okay, I don't mind. Go on", being excited – both because of the fact that he hadn't lain with a guy for a while and because of the fact that someone had gotten so attracted to him so quickly – Kidd quickly lay down again. It was unbelievable. Was he really that sexy that he had made Trafalgar horny right away? Sweet.

"Mmm, good", Trafalgar smiled, his gray eyes piercing through his thick eyelashes. Then he slowly proceeded to sit down on Kidd's torso, his eyes still locked to Kidd's. "Now, shh, close your eyes…" Trafalgar's slim and soft hands rested on Kidd's chest as he told the redhead to shut his eyes.

"Okay, you like these sorts of things, I see", the redhead chuckled eagerly, already enjoying the incoming treatment. Closing his eyes innocently, Kidd waited for the next step to happen.

Trafalgar chuckled a little as well, massaging Kidd's chest with his slim and tanned hands. Ah such a sweet laughter, Kidd was completely sure that he was going to get along with this guy. At least if they were going to do this kind of stuff all the way. Kidd really didn't remember when he had lain with a dude before, but it really didn't matter. It was like being with women anyway right? He was not going to let anyone dominate him at least.

"Yes, I do", Trafalgar said softly and Kidd could tell that he fumbled with the pocket of his pants. Suddenly something slightly cold and sharp touched Kidd's shoulder, and he couldn't help but to wonder what it was. "Now stay completely still Eustass-ya and let me dissect your left arm."

Wait… Dissect?

"What the fuck- wait- no- GAAAAAAAAH!"

* * *

~Thank you for Reading~


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello!  
**

**First of all; thank you, all of you who read this! I really didn't expect anyone to read this! :D Huge thanks to all of you!  
****Umm, I don't know what to say but I think I'll try my best and reply to the reviews: **

**VodkaThief: Haha! xD Law really is sneaky, isn't he? He will only grow sneakier and sneakier though :D Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**E. Meep: Is it really good? Thanks! I was worried it'd be odd or something :D But really, thanks a lot for your kind words! It was really nice of you! :3**

**Jo: KidLaw is also my absolutely favorite pairing! They're so cute and perfect and ANGH! Also thank you for liking the story so far x3 Here's a new chappie!**

**Fuyu no ame: I'm so flattered that you like my story ~ Hopefully you'll like it in the future too! :3**

**Velonica14: You really loved this? *blushes* Thanks so much! :D And yeah... That is Law xD Actually, there'll be quite a lot of drabbling around Trafaglar Square and Law's name in this fic (especially later) :3 Once again thanks so much for liking this fic! (This chapter is much shorter so I hope it'll be easier to read)**

**ninja chick: Yay! I made another chapter! :3**

**So, this chapter is much MUCH shorter than the other one, which was kind of on purpose. Also I don't have any word limit, but I've planned each chapter on the basis of what will happen and not on the basis of the lenght. Thought I'd say that so you'd know :) **

**Still no beta and still lazy with reading, so let's welcome all of the possible grammatical errors and other errors. Please feel free to ask me if you don't understand anything, I tend to formulate things in a complicated way. *oopsie* :D **

**Once again thanks for all of the reviews and followers and favorites! **

**Here's the next chapter (which I kind of enjoyed too much to write *possible crack ahead*) :'D**

**~Enjoy~**

* * *

It was unbelievable. It really was. They were having _meat _for dinner.

It was crazy, out of range, fancy, indescribably awesome, fantastic. Simply – it was something Kidd wasn't used to. Back at home they had barely afforded food and only rarely afforded meat on their plates. Meat had become a rare treat for him, like candy for small children who only wait for the next occasion where candy or sweets overall would be served. Kidd had become like that, only longing for occasions with meat, only waiting for different kinds of fancier dinner parties to get to chew the delicious food. He was so used to never eating any meat that it currently felt unrealistic and honestly speaking mad to receive meat at a boarding school in a small, poor village. He had not been expecting it.

Currently holding a tray in his hands, Kidd awkwardly looked around himself and wondered where to sit down in the canteen of the school. His amber eyes carefully glanced at his psychopathic roommate and a chill went up his spine. Trafalgar was sitting with some friends of his own, one of them being Jean Bart and one of them sitting way too close to him. Kidd didn't want to get involved with Trafalgar after that small attempt of dissection. Trafalgar actually had managed to push the scalpel quite deep into his shoulder before Kidd had become enraged and literally had tried to throw him into the wall. Trafalgar had managed to escape laughing, which had done nothing else but enrage the redhead even more. If there was something that was sure, then it was that Trafalgar was an asshole and that Kidd would never, ever bother to bang him. He wasn't even that good-looking after all. And besides, Kidd hadn't even found him attractive anyway. Trafalgar had only manipulated him, that bastard. Goddammit. Kidd really hated that Trafalgar now – he was a small, psychopathic shit, whose friend really seemed to be way too clingy and close to him.

Honestly speaking, it seemed like many of the guys were being a bit too close to each other, and Kidd couldn't help but to wonder whether all of the guys were joking with him. It couldn't be possible that he had landed on some kind of gay planet, right? Right? _Right? _Of course it couldn't. It was probably just an act to joke with him – they were sitting too close to each other and openly flirting with each other on purpose, just to fuck with him. Yeah, really funny alright. There was no way that so many gay guys just _happened _to be at the same school. It was in brief impossible. Completely out of range. So in conclusion, it all was just a stupid joke. Except that dissection-scene, it had surely been a genuine act. Trafalgar was a sociopath. Or was he a psychopath? Wait… What was even the difference between those two again?

Shrugging unnoticeable, Kidd decided to sit down by an empty table, as far away as possible from Trafalgar. Yes, he was going to hold a grudge against that guy from now on. No one fooled him and got away with it. No one humiliated him like that. No one.

Once again the meat in front of his eyes appeared to be unreal, but this time Kidd decided there had been enough of admiration and dug into the food, feeling awkward sitting all by himself. Oh well, there was nothing one could do about it, was there? He was a pitiful newbie in the rest of the pupils' eyes, arriving at the school because of imbecility and idiocy, looking like a red gorilla with primitive and somewhat inconsolable eyes. Sooner or later they'd learn that he wasn't a pitiful newbie, it was always like that in the movies too. Speaking of which, it seemed that someone already had realized that he wasn't a pitiful newbie, since a green-haired guy with a stupid rocker-like hairstyle was walking towards him. Behind him two other guys followed, one of them looking shy and anxious, the other one wearing dumb clothes and an even dumber expression.

"Barto… I really don't think it's a good idea, he was speaking with the principal earlier…" the shyest one of them carefully glanced at Kidd. He had long, pale blue dreadlocks and big, sorrowful eyes. In some way he reminded Kidd of a koala, in some way of a sloth. It was probably the eyes.

"Do I look like I give a fuck? Yeah, thought so", the green-haired dude with his awkward rocker style nonchalantly sat down next to Kidd and the two other guys awkwardly followed. "Yo. You're the new guy, right?"

"No shit Sherlock", Kidd skeptically exchanged a glance with the two other guys before resuming eating the delicious food.

"Cool, I'm Bartolomeo", the wannabe rocker – apparently named Bartolomeo – looked at Kidd with a proud face and then picked up the piece of meat with his hands and started to eat it. "These other two dorks here are Heat and Wire."

"Ciao", the one with ridiculous fashionista clothes said proudly, as the blue-haired one awkwardly stuttered a pitiful greeting. Inevitably the duo was a tad ridiculous, one of them seemed quite self-confident while the other one perhaps never had heard that a word such as self-confidence existed.

"Uh, okay cool. I'm Eustass Kidd. Perhaps heard of me?"

"Are you kidding me? The principal held a whole speech about you before you arrived – oh well he always does that – but yeah, you know, all that crap about being kind to the new pupil, blah, blah. I think all of us got your name. Except that Trafalgar-kid, he was sleeping the entire day. Said he was tired", Bartolomeo shrugged and kept on chewing on the piece of meat he was holding in his hands. The guy with the dreadlocks – probably called Heat – looked at the tattooed guy's horrible manners in disgust. "But you didn't attend to any lessons today? Why?"

"I don't know why, but the school counselor wanted to meet me", Kidd lied and chuckled. "Crazy-ass bitch, that woman. And then the principal wanted to go through all of the rules at the school. Took an eternity. How do you guys even manage to keep track on all of those rules?"

"Well, most of the time we don't. So what about you? What did you do to get into this place?" nonchalantly casting off a question like that, the intimidate-looking guy picked his nose and then resumed eating again.

"W… What do you mean by that?"

"Well isn't it obvious? Geez, almost every-fucking-one attending to this school is a crazy criminal. There are only a few exceptions, like Trafalgar or Sabo-senpai or Penguin or someone. Personally I got involved with drugs, didn't sell so much, only used them. Oh and I also shot a guy. He didn't die though. I managed to avoid prison, my dad is involved with the yakuza back in Japan", Kidd couldn't believe what he was told. Almost everyone was a criminal here? Holy fuck. Actually, that was pretty great. Suddenly, he didn't feel as ashamed of his own background story anymore. Everyone was a crazy, violent oddball here, he didn't have to feel brutal anymore. Not even primitive or dense. But then again… the fucking yakuza?! "So what did you do?"

"I sold booze and sometimes drugs back at my old school. Some kid babbled to the teachers and then my friends betrayed me when the police got involved. Busted the whole story. Oh, I also beat up pretty much everyone attending to that shithole", to this Bartolomeo only shrugged and then continued to eat, as if there was nothing odd about it.

"Sounds about average", the fashionista one said - his name was Wire right? Oh well, wore stupid clothes anyway. "I only stole some clothes and battered a fashion designer who seriously had designed the most _horrible _purse ever! I can't believe that someone actually bought it! Oh god… It's all coming back to me, that horrible purse..! Anyhow, what I did wasn't even _that _bad, but I really enjoy it here so it doesn't matter!"

Kidd raised an eyebrow to this story, he found it pretty damn odd after Bartolomeo's cool story with the yakuza and all. Or was Wire's story perhaps a joke? The redhead tried to search for a sign of jocosity in the guy's face, but found nothing but distress and earnest. Was this dude really this gay and girly? Oh god… Well at least the wannabe rocker seemed okay, and the shy guy seemed kind of reliable too.

"What about you?" Kidd paused, desperately trying to remember the name of the guy with dreadlocks and sorrowful eyes. "Heat was it?"

"Y-Yeah, it's Heat", the dreadlock-guy replied, while anxiously playing with the sleeves of the navy blue school uniform. "I kind of… burned up a house. I'm a pyromaniac…"

"Really? Sweet", slightly getting into the pace of being completely nonchalant and ignorant about criminality, Kidd nodded and tried his best not to look impressed. The dreadlock-guy smiled gently at this – he seemed quite proud and happy with Kidd's replied. In some way the shyness painted a very earnest and reliable picture of him. "Any other pyromaniacs around?"

"Well there is always Ace-senpai", Bartolomeo said, suddenly an atmosphere of admiration had appeared around him, which Kidd found quite odd. Did he admire this 'Ace-senpai' or? And what was even up with that word? 'Senpai'? The tattooed and green-haired guy had already used it once before. "But he has more like some kind of multiple personality disorder or something like that. He is both really kind and a crazy motherfucker who burns up everything, oh well he's really cool anyway!"

"Senpai? What's up with that word? And who exactly is this 'Ace-senpai?'" a small of wave of excitement went through the canteen as three guys – who had been late for dinner – arrived. Kidd couldn't help but to look at the three guys entering the room with slight curiosity.

In walked a group of three youngsters, two of them obviously older and one younger and smaller. Honestly, the redhead couldn't spot anything special about them. One of the older ones was blonde, had round funny eyes and a toothy grin was dominating his facial features. The other elder one was black-haired, had freckles and sloppy eyes. The smallest one was quite funny-looking, with big, round chocolate-brown eyes and a scar underneath his left eyes. But as mentioned earlier, they looked like completely ordinary guys, except that they also were quite clingy. In fact, they all were clinging to each other. The blonde one leaned against the freckled one, the smallest one dearly hugged the freckled one's arm while the freckled one looked confused of whom he himself was supposed to cling to. Actually it appeared as if the blonde and the funny-looking guy were silently fighting for the freckled one's attention. According to Kidd this all seemed utterly odd and unfitting. Did guys usually cling to each other like that? No, definitely not. The more time Kidd spent at this school, the more he started to feel like a homophobe.

Beside him his apparently-new-friend Bartolomeo was silently squealing like a small girl, and this only awakened more confusion. What on earth was so special about those three? Their clinginess perhaps? Naturally Kidd was afraid of questioning them – the green-haired guy seemed to adore them to an unnatural level. What was even up with that? No honestly, now Kidd was growing really interested in knowing what was so special about them. Perhaps they themselves were mafia or yakuza members? No that was highly unlikely. So what was the special thing about them?

The clingy group sat down by a table relatively close to the table where Kidd and his new acquaintances were sitting. He could sense how the wannabe rocker literally shook with excitement and happiness, the more he did that the more ridiculous he became. At least in Kidd's opinion. Slowly yet steadily Kidd started to mentally question the wellbeing of the pupils of the boarding school. Was this perhaps the fishy thing Kidd had been looking for? The fishy thing about the school? Everyone was gay and embarrassing? Everyone was psycho and evil in some way? Nojiko had been right. These guys truly were Black Elephants. They were not only the shame of their own villages, but the shame of the world. They were dumb and evil, what good was there about them? Their psychopathy?

"U-Umm… Excuse me if I'm a fucking idiot but what's so special about those guys..?" daring it all on that one inquiry, Kidd carefully leaned closer to Bartolomeo to mumble the question in a quiet tone. He wasn't sure whether the tattooed and intimidate looking greenhead would be upset or get angry because of this, but he couldn't prevent the great curiosity tickling and itching inside of him.

"What's so special?" Bartolomeo repeated the question with a sarcastic tone as he snorted. "But of course you wouldn't know… That's not anyone..! That's the great Luffy-senpai and his two brothers; Ace-senpai and Sabo-senpai! Oh god! I can't take this! He's like five meters away from me! What do I do? How does my hair look? S-Should I go up and talk to him? N-No..! I'm way too shy! I should just pr-probably let him eat all by himself..!"

What.

The.

Fuck.

Did Bartolomeo – the guy who just had talked about the yakuza so nonchalantly – actually act like this? Like a small girl meeting her idol or crush? Oh Jesus fucking Christ. This was just too much for Kidd. Everyone was way too much of an oddball in this school. He couldn't take this. But in some way, this oddness and strangeness actually suited him, an outcast, a lonely, lost elephant who had gotten lost and raved themselves away from the savannas and jungles to a city full of smart and engaged businessmen in gray, indifferent costumes. Perhaps these different and peculiar personalities all were the other animals from the jungle –also lost in a city full of big blocks called skyscrapers? Who knew? Anyhow, now Kidd's thoughts had ended up being something completely different than they originally had been meant to become. So back to the original subject – what the fuck was wrong with the people of this school? His roommate was a fucking psychopath, the first guys – besides Jean Bart – who had tried to befriend him were all oddballs and a guy who partly was involved with the yakuza was squealing like a small 11-year-old girl. Where the fuck was this world going?

"Barto? You alright?" Kidd asked carefully, glancing at the two other guys by the table. They had gone back to eating – it seemed as if they already were used to this procedure. Seriously? Was this a normal happening? A big, closet-like guy, with a tattoo in his face, with a fucking nose-piercing, with scary, blood-thirsty eyes, was acting like a small girl meeting her crush. No, this was surely a stupid joke. Yeah, really funny. Haha. …Somehow this joke was terrifyingly realistic. Oh god. Suddenly Kidd wanted back to his old school with the angry, burly headmaster and the boring teachers and the tasteless food.

"No..! I-I'm not alright..! L-Luffy-senpai is..!" not even being able to finish his sentence, the intimidating guy had to stop speaking in order to even manage to breathe. Oh god this was so fucking odd. Kidd couldn't believe this. "Luffy-senpai is right there..! Along with Ace-senpai..! You have probably never heard of them, but they are like one of the greatest criminal duo ever! They are the master thieves, I tell you! They've stolen everything from pocket thefts to diamonds! Even as children! Oh god they truly are the best! And Sabo-senpai – the master at disguise! Breathe, Bartolomeo, breathe..! You have lungs for a reason..! Aaah! So cool!"

"…But you see them every day right?"

"Yup but he still acts like this every time he sees them."

"Really? Okay then, Barto tell me 'bout these fuckers. I admit I'm getting curious", Kidd gulped down the milk in his glass while waiting for a reply from the greenhead. The redhead barely noticed it, but he had shamelessly started to use a nickname for Bartolomeo. Calling him 'Barto' was just so much shorter, so he supposed it came off naturally.

"You want to hear about Luffy-senpai and his brothers?! Surely, I'll tell you _everything_!" not a single word could probably explain the excitement-atmosphere floating around the greenhead. Practically shaking with both excitement and admiration the silly yet threatening greenhead begun speaking again; "Luffy-senpai is without doubt one of the most skilled thieves ever – just like I mentioned earlier. From what I've heard he started stealing back as a child due to poverty, I really have no idea about the details. He and his elder brother Ace-senpai both got involved with criminality at a very young age and didn't afford school and barely survived in the streets. Really so cool..! And from what the rumors tell, they have stolen a famous diamond once too! Angh! So cool!"

"O-Okay… So they are like fucking skilled thieves?" not being sure of how to make Barto go back to the original subject, Kidd sensitively tried to direct the conversation back to the point. "I see. I get it."

"No, you don't! They are simply amazing! Currently they are using their crazy talents to cheat through school, it's really so fantastic! Their plans, their disguises, their methods… Like a work of art! Especially Luffy-senpai – he is without doubt the greatest thief in history of mankind! Don't let the cute deceive you, he is like the devil with all of his incredible methods! It truly is amazing how he is capable of looking so wonderfully cute and be able to appear so indescribably adorable when he always is scheming mischief..! Ah, no I was wrong! It's not the methods but _him! _Luffy-senpai himself is the work of art here..!"

Witnessing the dramatic act, the three other dudes awkwardly coughed into their fists and Kidd couldn't help but to look around himself in order to see whether other people were looking at them strangely. Luckily no one appeared to direct questioning gazes towards their direction, not even the person Bartolomeo currently was so eagerly comprising had recognized his dramatic and desperate shouts.

"Right… So how do they practically cheat during tests?" Kidd once again tried to lead the conversation a little further away from the sick admiration-spree. He wasn't so sure, however, whether talking about this 'Luffy-senpai' was a good idea or not, but he had no idea what other subject they possibly could be discussing about instead so he let it be. Perhaps they'd start talking of something else after a while.

"Allow me", Bartolomeo coughed into his fist in a demonstrative manner, before resuming speaking, "they always make sure that they have tests during different lessons, so that they can help out the other one during the test. Once Luffy-senpai broke into the air conditioner systems in the ceiling and with the help of a mirror helped Ace-senpai through the test. Amazing right? Oh god..! And Sabo-senpai usually helps them when they need to dress up as someone else in order to steal answer sheets or such..! Ah! They truly are the best combination ever but the most amazing one surely is Luffy-senpai! He'll one day become the best thief in the world!"

"Okay, I do believe you. Sounds awesome", not really daring to say anything else, Kidd awkwardly chuckled and looked over at the trio sitting pretty close to them. "What does 'senpai' mean by the way? You have kept repeating that word for a while and I have no idea what it means."

"Oh, yeah, I always forget that new guys don't know what it means", suddenly the atmosphere filled with pure admiration left Bartolomeo for a brief moment; he seemed to regain his earlier behavior. "As I said, my old man is involved with the yakuza."

Geez, in some way this dude was so stupid though. He just goes around talking about his dad being a yakuza member. Didn't he think of the consequences at all? Probably not. Or then he just was the most stupid guy on earth. Well, this school was for idiots in first hand, wasn't it?

"Yea and what has that got to do with any of this?"

"Well because of that I had to live in Japan for a few years and that's why I speak Japanese too", and thus, the guy went back to looking as nonchalant and bored as he had done before 'Luffy-senpai' and his two brothers had arrived. "Senpai is roughly translated as 'upperclassman'. Like an honorific you know."

"But… Isn't that guy younger than us? At least he looks kinda… Small", once again Kidd felt that he was walking on thin ice, when calling Bartolomeo's biggest idol small. Bartolomeo, however, only seemed to get hyped again, which made Kidd question his sanity. Again.

"I know..! He's so small yet so awesome and cool and..!" Bartolomeo squeezed his own cheeks, for a reason that Kidd did not know, and frankly he didn't want to know either. The fashionista – Wire – sighed and took out his phone. Kidd could see that the oddball scrolled through Instagram, liking some pictures during the process. Clever escape, the redhead thought, while biting his under lip anxiously. "'And I call him Luffy-senpai because he certainly is an upperclassman compared to me in criminality! You should call him that too!"

"Nah, I pronounce it wrong anyway, he'd only get mad right?" to this statement, Bartolomeo nodded thoughtfully, obviously agreeing with Kidd. In the meantime, Kidd couldn't help but to glance at Trafalgar a little, who still sat by his table along his way-too-clingy friends. Somehow the redhead got annoyed at Trafalgar's friends a little, for a reason he did not understand. Why would he get mad? There was no reason whatsoever? Or perhaps it was because they were friends with a psycho? Yeah, that was probably it. Trafalgar deserved to be alone. Fucking psycho.

During these – what was it? – perhaps fifteen seconds, Bartolomeo had gone back to fangirling like an idiot, as he once again was staring at his glorious trio, while flailing excitedly. It truly was a miracle how none of the admired ones had noticed all of the flailing and squealing. Speaking of which, it finally seemed as if someone noticed. The smallest one among them, obviously 'Luffy-senpai', turned at Bartolomeo and waved a little;

"Yo! How's it going?" he had a quite light voice, but then again he was quite short, for a guy that is. What was he? 170? 175? At least much shorter than Kidd, but then again Kidd was quite tall. Oh well, it still remained a mystery for Kidd why that guy was so crazily admired by Barto, but perhaps that mystery never would be solved.

Kidd could hear how Bartolomeo's soul literally left him with a small, squeaky sound. This was way too much for him, wasn't it? Poor guy.

"Shh, don't talk to him Lu!" the freckled one hissed angrily, obviously worried over his younger brother. What did he expect? Bartolomeo to attack him? Okay that wouldn't be surprising, thinking of how much the guy admired Luffy. In fact, it wouldn't surprise Kidd if that already had happened several times before.

"But Ace..! Ah, there's the new guy too! Yo! New guy!" now the waving was directed to Kidd, and honestly, the redhead had no idea how to respond, so he just awkwardly nodded back. "I'm Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm not an idiot!"

"Uhh, sure ok", now things really were going overboard for Kidd. Why was everyone so goddamn odd here? What the fuck had been wrong with that introduction for example?! Why was Bartolomeo so obsessed with a small, slightly freaky guy who was younger than them?! Why were all of the guys so obsessed with each other here!? Where the fuck had he ended up!? "Eustass Kidd. Cool to meet ya."

"Kidd? Okay, cool! Well, we'll probably meet again later!" and with that the small, scrawny thing turned around again and calmly resumed eating, as if his small waves just hadn't ripped Bartolomeo's soul out of him. Then Kidd carefully turned to the now practically dead Bartolomeo, who currently was dwelling in some kind of odd trance.

"Barto? You alright?"

"L-Luffy… senpai…"

"Apparently not."

Sighing, Kidd slowly and steadily left the canteen, deciding that he had seen too much for one day. He just coldly left Bartolomeo paralyzed, Wire scrolling through Instagram and Heat anxiously playing with his dreadlocks, and proceeded back to his dorm room, hoping that he wouldn't have to encounter with Trafalgar during the evening at all anymore.

§

With a supplied sigh Kidd slumped down on his bed in the dorm room. Satisfaction was dominating his mind – the food had been delicious, he had taken a short training session of approximately 45 minutes back at the gym, and was currently lying on the bed wearing a silly pajama after a nice shower. The best part of this was, however, that Trafalgar hadn't come yet. The clock was probably around nine or something, and according to the rules one had to be in their dorm room ten o'clock sharp. Even though he really didn't want to care, Kidd wondered where the dark-haired guy was. What was he doing? Hanging around with those clingy friends of his? However the biggest mystery was how Trafalgar had any friends at all. Oh well, who cared? Not really caring when the psychopath would arrive, Kidd took out his phone and quickly called Nojiko.

He told her about the boarding school, Jean Bart who had showed him around, Bartolomeo and his odd admiration-problems, Heat and Wire who both seemed cool, and finally he shortly mentioned that he had an odd roommate. He didn't go into detail, because frankly, he was embarrassed of the small dissection-scene. He had been fooled so easily. That stupid Trafalgar kid had surely known what he had been doing, knowingly flirting with him in order to make him horny and needy, only then to attempt to dissect his left arm. What only made things worse, was that the small cut on Kidd's shoulder stung a little, which continuously annoyed him. Curse that Trafalgar-bastard. He was still going down, and that Kidd personally would make sure of.

After the small chitchat about the school, the redhead asked his sister about their dad. Apparently dad had gone missing, he hadn't come home yet and had been gone since yesterday night. Well, this procedure was familiar alright. Soon the old man would appear drenched in sorrow, apologizing about his behavior and try to make everyone's lives better. He would keep on with this act for about two to three weeks, before going back to drinking. Sometimes he had been sober longer times though, but that had been a long time ago. Like, a really, really long time ago. The one thing that usually got the old man back to drinking was when he realized that he had to search for a new job, and that there really weren't that many jobs available.

"So how's Nami?" Kidd asked while looking at the white ceiling with relatively tired eyes. Despite his exhaustion, he still couldn't help but to admire the fresh and modern dorm room. It really was unbelievable that this room was going to be his for the incoming year. Well, his and Trafalgar's.

"She's fine. I bet she misses you, though she keeps on saying how wonderfully quiet it is without you", Nojiko chuckled in her sisterly manner, which always calmed Kidd down. The redhead could tell that his sister felt at peace, this surely was because of the fact that their dad wasn't at home.

"Really? But I've only been gone for a day", admittedly Kidd was a little surprised to hear how his little, cheeky sister already was missing him. Naturally he missed them too, but he was more like worried over them. What if some pervert would try to touch his sisters? Or what if his dad would go crazy? Kidd mentally decided to make sure to call his sisters as frequently as possible.

"Yeah, but you know. She really likes her overprotective and temperamental douchebag-brother. Oh speaking of which, she just came home."

Kidd could hear how someone shouted a 'Hello!' and closed a door with a careless attitude on the other side of the line. He recognized the attitude and voice immediately – it was his baby sister.

"Okay, tell her I miss her too. And tell her to eat regularly, last time I saw her she looked thinner again", once again not being able to feel anxious about his baby sister, Kidd spoke into the phone with a serious tone. But what he said was true. Nami really had gotten a little thinner, even if it wasn't that much, it still made the redhead worried.

"Right I'll tell her, but now we're going to spend a real girl's night, without any stupid beer-drinking gorilla. Have loads of fun and remember to study a lot, alright? I'll call you later, okay? Bye!" one could easily tell that Nojiko was really looking forward to spending some aloe time with her sister, they rarely had time for stuff like that anyway.

"Bye, don't watch too much of those Gossip Girls-episodes."

"Don't worry, we don't", and with that Kidd's elder sister hung up, probably very eager to start a movie marathon with Nami.

Somehow hearing the voices of his two sisters had made Kidd long back home painfully much. He felt so lonely alone at the boarding school, stuck with idiotic fags. It seemed as if everyone was slightly freaky at this place, and it didn't feel safe or homely the slightest. Everyone was a little crazy, not to mention his psychopathic gay roommate. Speaking of which, Kidd could hear steps proceeding closer to the room, and only a few seconds later the door to the room was opened. In stepped Trafalgar in all his glory and mischief. The guy smirked as he gladly sauntered into the room, his gorgeous eyes never leaving Kidd. Why? Why was he looking at Kidd with so much mischief?

"Ah, Eustass-ya, I see you've settled down for good", the tanned youth with his stormy, gray eyes said and walked to his own bed. He snickered slightly as he looked at Kidd's stupid pajama, making the redhead blush slightly. "What a pity. I liked living by myself, and living with a temperamental humdrum genuinely is worse than living without any company at all. The only thing that could have made you interesting would have been intelligence. But I presume you lack that as well? Poor, poor Eustass-ya."

"Shut the fuck up, fucking psycho", Kidd replied, placing his phone on the bedside table next to him. He tried his best to ignore the teasing glance and the sarcastic tone. Dammit, why was Trafalgar so fucking provocative? Was he a masochist or something? Did he _want _to get beaten up? And what the fuck? Why did he know log and fancy words? Wasn't everyone attending to this school supposed to be dumb? "You're the fucking crazy-ass shithead here. What the fuck were you trying to do?! Were you seriously going to cut off my arm!? Psycho."

"Alas Eustass-ya! What is wrong with that poor terminology of yours? All those horrid words after each other! Is your vocabulary really that limited? And honestly speaking, I wasn't planning a thing. You are just a horny dog and I took the opportunity", Trafalgar smirked as he graciously undressed himself in the same hypnotic, seductive manner as earlier. This time Kidd was smart enough to look away and not let himself be hypnotized by the perfectly smooth and tanned skin being exposed right in front of him. Only once Kidd allowed himself to glance at the graceful man in front of him, seeing several tattoos on the youth's body. Fuck it, Trafalgar was a fine piece.

"Horny? Yeah I was. Otherwise I would never have bothered to even look at someone like you. I don't even fuck ugly bitches like you, I only like women, beautiful and curvy ones", the redhead had a hard time not to look at Trafalgar, when said male took off his pants, only wearing black boxers and smirking seductively.

"So you're saying that you were really desperate this afternoon? In other words you just confessed that you barely get laid and therefore are so desperate after even dudes?" Dammit. It seemed as if Trafalgar really wasn't an idiot. In fact, Kidd didn't stand a chance against him in this debate. Whatever Kidd said, Trafalgar would just smirk at it with that omniscient smirk of his. How was that possible? Was he just a smart psycho or just very slick?

"I've probably gotten laid more than you", Kidd muttered angrily and crawled underneath the blankets of his bed, sneakily looking at Trafalgar who now dressed himself with his pajama, consisting of a white T-shirt with a cute polar bear pattern and loose, light blue pajama pants. No matter how hard Kidd tried to deny the fact that Trafalgar's pajama was cute, he didn't succeed. But then again, it was odd for a guy to wear clothes like that, even as a pajama. Oh, the stupid smirk on Trafalgar's face revealed the truth. He had chosen those clothes on purpose to annoy Kidd. Oh fuck him.

"I wouldn't think so highly of myself, if I were you, Eustass-ya", also crawling underneath the blanket of his own bed, Trafalgar took out a stuffed polar bear toy from one of the drawers in the bedside table. Kidd raised a non-existing eyebrow at this, finding this procedure utterly peculiar. Was this a joke or was Trafalgar seriously sleeping with stuffed animals? Or was this also to annoy him?

"I wouldn't think so highly of myself, if I were _you_, Trafalgar."

"Then, how many times have you gotten laid?"

"Feh, do you expect me to count things like that? Anyhow, it's a fucking big number, just so you know."

"What? Can't count to three?"

"S… Shut the fuck up! A-Anyway, what the fuck is up with that polar bear toy?! Too afraid to sleep alone, huh?" Kidd desperately came up with a comeback, and was relatively pleased with his comeback, despite it being slightly childish.

"What? Got a problem with Bepo?" Trafalgar hugged the stuffed toy. Kidd hadn't realized it before, but the room had started to smell smoke the moment Trafalgar had entered it. Did he smoke? But that was against the rules of the school! Perhaps there was a place where you could smoke unseen? Sweet. The redhead would ask Bartolomeo about it tomorrow. Luckily Kidd had brought a package of cancer sticks with him to the boarding school.

"Seriously?"

"What?"

"You _named _it?"

"Of course I did. Naturally an idiot like you wouldn't understand. You see, this might be hard for you to understand Eustass-ya, but, usually normal people possess the skill to _think._ Thus, I was capable of coming up with a name for Bepo", the tanned guy explained slowly, as if he was speaking to a retard. This only enraged the redhead indescribably much, making him practically fume with fury. "I know we have our differences Eustass-ya. Back when I was a kid I would be reading books about philosophy, while you probably still were learning your own name."

"So you think you're fucking smart only because you know some fancier words?" trying his best to keep his calm, Kidd came up with another comeback. "You're at this school for a reason, remember that."

"Same goes to you, Eustass-ya", Trafalgar turned around in his bed, suddenly not as playful as before. Why was that? Didn't the wannabe-genius like getting called an idiot? But then again, who did? While being turned around the black-haired guy turned off the table lamp on his bedside table. "Good night then."

"Yeah night. Hopefully you're dead by the morning."

"That's highly unlikely."

"I did say _hopefully, _didn't I?"

And thus Kidd turned off the table lamp on his bedside table too, marking that the conversation was over. Darkness had fallen upon the room, whilst both of the males felt awkward because of each other's existence. Surely they would slowly get used to each other's being after a while – or would they?

* * *

~Thanks for Reading~


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello people of the internet! :)  
**

**I wrote the third chappie~ Yay~  
It's pretty much the same length as the previous chapter, but hopefully you'll enjoy it regardless ^ v ^ **

**I think now is a good time to mention that I'm also working on other KidLaw fics, and that I might publish them at some point, but I'm not completely sure yet :3**

**Regardless, I'll reply to the kind reviews I received:**

**OtherwordlyArtist: Waah~ Thank you so much~ Unfortunately Sabo, Ace and Luffy won't be participating in this chapter, but they will have chapters of their own in the future ;) And sorry, but AcexSaboxLuffy would be quite impossible in this story :C Instead it'll be some kind of complicated traingle drama, because I kind of love them :'D But yea, thank you SO much for the kind review! Have a nice day! ^ 3 ^  
**

**snoopypompom: KiddxLaw are my OTP as well! x3 And thanks for liking the story~ I assure you that Law has a reason for acting like a total dickhead, but it will be explained MUCH later, so you'll have to wait :') Here's the next chapter dearie :3**

**viv-heart: Waaah! Thanks for liking my storyyy~ xD And hug Kiddo all you like~ I'm sure he won't mind~ ;3 Here's a little more~  
**

**But yea, that's all about that. Leave a review if you have something to say, anything is fine, even telling me what kind of socks you are wearing for the moment :'D**

**~Enjoy~**

* * *

Apparently Kidd really had fallen asleep. At least he woke up to the sound of his annoying alarm clock, his left shoulder feeling much better and drool covering his left cheek. Not only had he slept, but apparently he had slept childishly well. Which in turn was surprising, since he had felt fucking awkward knowing that he was sleeping only about one and half meter from Trafalgar. Speaking of which, the psycho himself didn't even twitch at the sound of the alarm clock. Odd.

Not really caring about Trafalgar, Kidd slowly got up, staring at practically nothing at all. Exhaustion and drowsiness were the two dominant sensations he was feeling for the moment, but despite this he somehow managed to stand up and in a slumberous manner waddle his way to the shower. At that moment he wasn't capable of thinking about anything, not even about Trafalgar's existence, so he even forgot to lock the door to the bathroom and just sleepily got into the shower stall, still wearing his pajama. Luckily he realized he still was clothed before he turned the water on. He really didn't feel like drying his pajama because of some embarrassing mistake.

After a little too long shower Kidd dried himself and then stared at himself in the mirror for several minutes. Then – all of sudden – he slapped his own face, to make sure he'd wake up for real. It was really odd, usually Kidd was a morning person, but today he was extraordinarily tired and dizzy. Okay, he admitted that he hadn't managed to fall asleep so easily the night before, due to the annoying nagging with Trafalgar. He really didn't understand why the dark-haired male was being such a dickhead to him, but frankly he didn't care. Or at least not right now.

Finishing all of his morning procedures, such as dressing himself, applying deodorant, fixing his hair and brushing his teeth, Kidd sat down on his bed again. The clock ticked half past seven. Breakfast had already begun and at 8:15 sharp lessons would begin.

Kidd glanced at the sleeping Trafalgar, who had turned himself into a cocoon with the help of the blanket. Said male hadn't even twitched once, despite Kidd continuously noising in the background. And Trafalgar still smelled smoke. Had he even brushed his teeth last night? Come to think of it, he hadn't. Oh gosh, how fresh. Kidd grimaced for himself and then carefully opened the curtains covering the window, in order to see what kind of weather they were having. Apparently it would be a nice and sunny day, a little cloudy, but still sunny enough to be nice.

Then the redhead sighed and silently made his bed before carefully leaving the dorm room, not waking Trafalgar up in the process. He really didn't want to interact with the dark-haired psycho, especially not during his extraordinarily slow morning. And somehow he felt that it wasn't his problem whether Trafalgar would be late for class or not.

Whilst walking to the canteen, Kidd couldn't help but to remember the odd dream he had dreamt. He remembered how his mom had been there, how everything had been completely perfect. How dad still had been okay. How Nojiko and Nami had been running around and laughing, like they had done back as brats. How everything had been simply idyllic, like pure happiness being portrayed in a childishly naïve dream. But then, in one instant it had changed. His dad had suddenly snapped and had started to hit him while his mom had frozen and just stared at the scene. Slowly mom had disappeared though, while Nojiko and Nami had run away, obviously scared of dad. Kidd had been left alone, curling himself into a small ball, desperately trying to protect himself from the angry hits. Despite this, blood had spattered all over the place. In the background, Trafalgar's psychopathic laughter had echoed.

It had been an enigmatic mash-up of a lot of things. His past, his fear for his dad and his odd meeting with Trafalgar had all been mashed up into one dream. Honestly, the dream hadn't made him afraid, neither had it made him sad. In fact, it had only made him confused. Despite Trafalgar being psychopathic, his laughter didn't suit something as brutal as Kidd's dad. The redhead suspected that nothing suited his dad actually. But it still had been an odd combination. And why had he even dreamt of Trafalgar in first place?

He left all of his questions unanswered and quietly entered the canteen. To his surprise the canteen was almost filled. He had thought people were usually late for breakfast, especially since Trafalgar carelessly had continued sleeping despite Kidd's alarm clock alarming them to wake up. Odd. Didn't Trafalgar care or did he just skip breakfast? Somehow Kidd found it impossible not to wonder. Why was he even bothering overall?

Shoving his odd and still slumberous thoughts aside, the redhead grabbed a tray and filled it with whatever they served for breakfast. Honestly though, he was too tired for even admiring all of the delicacies they were served for breakfast. He was completely positive that he would collapse any second and just fall asleep. Actually, that would have been quite comfortable to do at the time, but his pride kept him from doing so - which in turn was fortunate because falling asleep in the middle of the line for food would have been utterly humiliating for him.

As if being in some kind of odd trance, Kidd walked to one of the tables looking like a zombie. He sat down by it, not even glancing at the other guys around him and ate slowly. Apparently the other guys around him were equally tired – none of them spoke and just ate in silence, which suited Kidd more than well. This morning really wasn't his best.

When he finally had finished his breakfast – which had taken him like an eternity – he left the canteen in the precisely same slumberous manner as earlier. The redhead couldn't help but to notice that he had been lucky; people were more talkative by the other tables. He had just fatefully happened to sit down by the right table, which had consisted of quiet, exhausted and asocial guys. Okay, so from now on he at least knew where to sit if he would be too tired to even socialize.

Still dwelling in the enigmatic tiredness, Kidd waddled his way back to the dorm room in order to check his schedule. He had namely no idea what lesson he was supposed to attend to. To his surprise, Trafalgar was still sleeping when he entered the dorm room. Said male was in the exactly same position, still resembling a cocoon and breathing calmly, confirming one that he genuinely was sleeping.

Okay, so this was odd. Why wasn't Trafalgar getting ready? Didn't he have any morning lesson? Kidd didn't know what to do. Maybe he could try to fix their fucked up first impression with being kind? No. Trafalgar wasn't worth it, especially not after that small dickhead-attitude the night before. But then again, Trafalgar _did _look quite adorable, sleeping so calmly, not resembling a sadistic psychopath the slightest. Despite feeling so conflicted, Kidd decided that kindness was the only right way to solve conflicts, so he bent down and shook the sleeping young man carefully.

"Hey, Trafalgar, it's morning. You're gonna be late y'know", Kidd said softly, feeling quite awkward with waking the male up. The last time he had touched Trafalgar, he had thought of totally different things than waking someone up. _Totally different things. _

Trafalgar moaned into the pillow, clearly not being fond of someone waking him up. What a spoilt brat he was. Turning around in the bed, Trafalgar mumbled something completely incomprehensible. Kidd sighed and tried again.

"C'mon, you don't wanna be late", this time using a little harsher tone, Kidd recognized that class would start soon and that he really didn't have time for things like this. "Hey, really now, I'm trying to be kind and all you do is sleep. Yeah, gee thanks you fucking dickhead."

"Shut up…" the black-haired male mumbled and pulled the blanket over his head. "What lesson do we have now..?" The question came sleepily, as if Trafalgar still dwelled in the land of dreams. Kidd found the question quite odd, but despite this checked his timetable.

"Civics, why're you asking?"

"Oh, so we're having Smo-ya the first lesson…" now Trafalgar decided to show his face, as he peeked out from the cocoon he had created. Damn. How was one capable to look so good in the morning? Despite his messy hair and his tired eyes, he still looked damned fine. Screw him. And Smo-ya? What was that? An odd nickname for Smoker or something? "Tell him I'm tired and that I'll be sleeping here for the first two lessons…"

"What? Can you really do that?" Kidd asked, excitement clear in his voice. This was way too good to be true. Did this mean that you could just skip class if you felt tired? No, this had to be a joke. It simply couldn't be that great. But what if it wasn't a joke? Oh god..! This place really was heaven!

"No… No you can't do that… But I do that anyway", Trafalgar yawned and went back underneath the cover. That was when Kidd realized that the two of them were conversing without insulting each other. Okay, so a tired Trafalgar equaled a kind Trafalgar. Essential information. "Whatever… I'll sleep now."

"Uh, yea, sorry to bother you. Um. Sleep well, I guess?"

"Mm… Thanks… Have a nice day Eustass-ya."

That last sentence made Kidd raise a non-existing eyebrow due to confusion, even a small tint of red spread across his way-too-pale cheeks. Kidd stared at the cocoon on the bed, completely dumbfounded by the sudden kindness. A tired Trafalgar _really _equaled a kind Trafalgar, which in turn equaled a more adorable version of his psychopathy.

"Yeah, okay, umm, thanks", Kidd stuttered, turning completely laconic because of the sudden embarrassment pounding in his chest.

And with that the young man with this fiery red hair awkwardly left the room, the soft words still ringing in his ears.

§

Almost late to class, Kidd had desperately managed to navigate his way to the right classroom. Luckily he arrived just in time, realizing that he had no idea of where he was supposed to sit or what he was supposed to do. He could spot Bartolomeo sit in the back of the class, nodding at him gently. Just as Kidd stumbled into the classroom, looking around himself, uncertainty clearly dominating his pale facial features, the teacher himself entered the classroom too. Kidd felt a small chill go up his spine as he could sense the presence of another person behind him, so he quickly stepped to the side and then quietly sat down next to Bartolomeo who smirked, obviously satisfied. Curious gazes were directed at Kidd as he sat there, most of these guys had probably not seen him yet.

"Yo, almost late for your first class, dipshit", the greenhead whispered, keeping his voice as quiet as possible, which Kidd found strange. He had expected Bartolomeo to be the worst kind of asshole-student, only fucking around with the teachers all the time.

"Shut up", Kidd replied, sensing how the atmosphere in the classroom suddenly had become much more tense, so he himself decided to shut up too.

While sitting by the desk next to Bartolomeo, Kidd had a good view of the rumored 'Smoker', he had heard so much about. It was a broad-shouldered man in his late twenties, or perhaps early thirties, with gray – almost white – hair. Severity and discipline were the two most characteristic features dominating his face. Surprisingly enough, an unlit cigarette was hanging from the corner of his mouth, which probably was the cause for his nickname. A judgmental gaze scanned through the class, before it stopped at Kidd.

"So you're the new one, eh?" as the teacher spoke, Kidd realized that the whole classroom had fallen dead silent. Okay, so even the pupils were afraid of this guy. Kidd carefully glanced at Bartolomeo next to him, who also looked back at the teacher with slightly frightened eyes. Apparently this Smoker-guy was one you did not fuck with. And if you didn't fuck with him, why had Trafalgar decided it was a good idea to just skip his lessons and sleep instead? Did he seriously want to die?

"Yup, Eustass Kidd", there was no way around his stupid name, so he thought it was easier to just introduce himself immediately, instead of avoiding the whole introduction-crap. Still, he despised his humiliating name.

"Okay, Eustass, welcome to my class", the voice was bored, yet very stern and strict. "I'm Smoker and I'll be teaching you mostly civics. Occasionally I'll also be your P.E. teacher too."

"Uh, okay", not really being sure with what else to say, Kidd nodded slowly. Wait… So his _real_ name really was Smoker? Did his parents hate him or?

"So now that that's settled…" the man started but trailed off, once again giving the classroom a glance, this time a shorter and less calculating. Then he opened a small notebook which was placed on the lectern in front of the class. "Anyone know where Law is?"

"Um, yea about that…" the redhead started talking, but stopped himself, realizing that teachers didn't like it when you talked unless you had raised your hand. Oddly enough, Smoker didn't seem to get annoyed, instead he looked at Kidd, waiting for him to continue speaking. "He told me to tell you that he is sleeping. Actually, he said he'll be sleeping for the first two lessons."

"Oh I see, tired again huh?" instead of getting enraged, like Kidd had predicted him to become, Smoker just calmly closed the notebook again, not even writing the absence down. Obviously the man could feel Kidd's confusion, since as he spoke again he used a more assuring tone; "Don't sweat about it Eustass. Law is a special case; he can do a little like he pleases. But moving on from Law to homework, I hope everyone has done it this time. Bartolomeo?"

"Almost."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"I didn't quite do everything."

"And why is that?"

"Didn't get it."

"Anyone else who didn't get it?"

To this inquiry, almost everyone raised their hand. The man sighed a little, rubbing the temple of his head with gentle hands. Then he looked back at the class again, biting his lip due to frustration.

"Okay might as well go through it again, especially since Eustass is new and all… So, starting all over again I'll tell you everything in a chronological order, and in the simplest way, okay?"

Everyone nodded, but Kidd had lost concentration a long time ago. When Smoker had called Trafalgar a 'special case', what had he meant? And why was he letting Trafalgar get away with that ignorant and sloppy attitude? But most of all; why wasn't Smoker using an irritated tone while discussing about Trafalgar?

§

Trafalgar appeared at lunch. Kidd saw him, sitting across the canteen with the same friends he had sat with the night before. He saw how Trafalgar smirked at something one of the guys had said, and how the smirk slowly developed into laughter. He saw how one of Trafalgar's friends wrapped his arm around Trafalgar's shoulders shamelessly. And while seeing these things, Kidd felt an odd kind of anger bubbling inside of him. It wasn't great anger, but it was there, itching confusion into his mind, making him question his own sanity.

Once again he was accompanied by Bartolomeo's company, and once again the two other guys were there – Heat and Wire were their names right? It was almost exactly like the night before, except that now some people also were eating outside in the warmth of late August. Luckily, some of the guys enjoying their meals outside included that Luffy-guy and his two brothers. Kidd really didn't want to relive the experience from yesterday. Witnessing Bartolomeo scream like a small girl once had been enough.

"So what do you think of the school so far?" today it was Wire leading the conversation on, as Bartolomeo was busy writing an essay he had forgotten to do. The thing that had surprised Kidd the most during the day had probably been how everyone – despite their criminality and sloppy attitude – actually tried their best to do homework and alike.

"Honestly? I like it. So far even the teachers seem cool", admitting the truth sincerely, Kidd continued eating, enjoying every small taste he could distinguish from the extraordinarily delicious food. One might not believe it, but said male actually appreciated well-made food. Coq au vin, moussaka, chateaubriand… You could name any dish to him and he'd probably know how to prepare it. He had been forced to learn cooking at a young age to survive after all; Nojiko hadn't been able to cook for them every night due to work.

"They're pretty nice right?" Wire giggled a little, smiling kindly at Kidd. Somehow Kidd felt a little disturbed of the nice attitude, perhaps because it was a little _too nice_, you know… A little too clingy and friendly.

"Yup. That Smoker guy seems pretty okay, but that Robin is nice, makes history cool."

After civics class he had had history class with this nice lady named Robin. In appearance she reminded Kidd a little of Trafalgar, the same tanned skin, the same black hair and similar mysterious eyes. But when she had started speaking, it had become clear that those two possibly couldn't be related in any kind of manner. Robin was patient, kind and friendly. She explained things slowly, making sure everyone understood what she was saying and every time someone showed slight interest in the subject she praised them with a small smile and a kind 'Precisely, good work. Keep it up'.

All in all, Robin was one of the most beautiful women Kidd ever had met, both in appearance and mind. If she wouldn't have been a teacher Kidd would probably had banged her. And besides, Bartolomeo had told him that Robin had a thing going on with another teacher called Franky, the technical woodworking teacher at the school.

"Yeah, Robin is – surprise, surprise – pretty popular", the clear jealousy did not go unnoticed. Wire grimaced a little, letting his dumb face turn into something that most people would call intimidating. How he was able to twist his face like that in order to convey a sensation was beyond Kidd's knowledge.

"I can see why", Kidd smirked for himself, looking over at Heat who anxiously looked down at his food. He hadn't eaten so much yet; in fact he hadn't eaten anything yet. "What's wrong? Why aren't ya eating?"

"Uh… That's because…"

"A guy from another class called him a fat-ass chicken."

"W-Wire..! You weren't supposed to tell anyone!"

"What? Why is that?" Kidd asked and now even Bartolomeo stopped writing on that stupid essay to look over at Heat. Said greenhead sighed and scratched a little behind his ear. Apparently this was a common procedure.

"You know you shouldn't listen to them, especially not if you try to interfere with their fight", it was highly out of character for someone like Bartolomeo to sound so mature all of sudden. He leaned backwards with the chair, grabbing a cigarette from his pocket and – despite it being against the rules of the school – lit it.

"B-But they are so mean to each other and…" Heat looked dangerously pitiful while playing with one of his light blue dread locks in a precarious manner. The guy looked simply heart-breaking like this. His abnormally round eyes looked down at his food, framing distress and anxiety.

"Okay, don't forget that I'm the new guy here", being confused, Kidd shamelessly interrupted the discussion. Smoke floated in the air, making Kidd utterly desperate after a cig himself. First Trafalgar had smelled smoke and now Bartolomeo was smoking right next to him.

"There are these two motherfuckers in another class, this stupid-ass cook and this idiotic swordsman, constantly fighting with each other. Heat here doesn't like fighting, so he sometimes interferes with their stupid nagging, and then they end up screaming at him too", Bartolomeo explained with a bored expression. In a blink of an eye, Bartolomeo suddenly let his cig fall to the floor and quickly stamped on it with his foot. While doing this, he also took out a bottle of deodorant and cockily sprayed it in the air. Kidd turned around and saw Smoker entering the canteen with judgmental eyes. "Fuck that was close… Can't a man enjoy a small smoke after his meal anymore?"

"You haven't finished eating yet", Wire remarked.

"Shut the fuck up. At least I'm not a crybaby like Heat."

"Okay, that was unnecessary Barto", Kidd pointed out, making the greenhead snort. "And you", now pointing at Heat, Kidd continued speaking, "eat up your goddamn food already. You're not a fat-ass chicken. And if those fuckers continue dissing you, you come and tell me, okay? I'll take care of them."

"O-Okay…" Heat nodded in his lamentable manner. Despite looking quite happy and content with what Kidd just had said, he still managed to look somewhat sorrowful. It was probably his facial features that framed some kind of permanent sadness.

"Oh speaking of those fuckers…" Bartolomeo sighed, looking at someone across the canteen. Kidd followed his gaze and spotted – to his surprise – another greenhead. The guy was tall and had three golden earrings dangling from one of his ears. He was quite muscular, but not disgustingly ripped. Said guy walked to the wrong end of the line for food. What a dork.

Just a few meters behind the greenhead walked a blonde guy with a ridiculous eyebrow, frowning deeply, obviously irritated because of something, or rather someone. He had covered his other eye behind his ridiculously blonde hair. He angrily kicked the greenhead on his lower back, making him budge forwards of shock.

"Hey, moss-head, what if you actually tried to walk to the right end of the line for once?" the blonde said, obviously pleased with his own smartass comment. Kidd witnessed the act with disbelief. This school really consisted of crazy-ass shitheads.

"Shut the fuck up, blondie", Moss-Head muttered back, and then with short and jerky steps walked to the right end of the line, as if he never had been to the wrong end at all. "Anyway, you looking for a fight?"

"That's precisely what I want to ask you!" Blondie shouted angrily. Okay, so these two apparently loved to fight with each other.

"If it's a fight you're after, then I'll gladly give you one", Moss-Head stated calmly, clear irritation peeking behind the unusually calm tone.

"Great! I've actually been waiting for revenge ever since that day when you stole all of my ingredients during home economics!"

"That was _two hours_ ago, fucktard!"

"Whatever, you've done it before too, retard. But that just makes things better - let's settle this right here and right now."

"Only if you don't chicken out, _princess_."

"That's it!" just as Blondie was about to kick Moss-Head again – this time a little more violently – Smoker stepped in between them, grabbing Blondie's leg in the process, stopping it from hitting Moss-Head.

"Calm the fuck down. And no cursing in the canteen", despite having his rock-hard rule with no cursing, he apparently did it himself. Contradicting bastard. However, Kidd had at a certain age learnt that all people are quite contradicting – some more than others. "Sanji, you go outside and calm the fuck down." Smoker let go of the leg with in a forceful manner.

"Me? But-"

"No fucking buts. And you", almost shoving his index finger onto Moss-Head's face, Smoker spoke with a frighteningly threatening voice; "bring your little friend some food while you're at it." With this Smoker clearly referred to Blondie, indicating that Moss-Head was supposed to shove their quarrel aside.

There occurred a small moment of silence, before Moss-Head muttered something incomprehensible for himself and then obediently queued for food, while Blondie angrily, with jerky and resolute steps, walked out of the canteen.

Once again Smoker proved himself to be a scary, hair-raising teacher with hard rules and complete dominance. But then Kidd could see the very same man, with his odd silver hair, look at Trafalgar with clear warmth in his eyes. Something similar to a smile spread across the man's face, before he turned on his heel and walked out of the canteen again. Kidd didn't even realize that he was dumbfounded before Bartolomeo decided to speak; "Earth to Eustass, earth to Eustass. It's Bartolomeo speaking, we need to confirm that you're alive."

"Yea, you really spaced out", Wire agreed, raising his eyebrows in a manner which Kidd found very strange. It didn't fit any kind of emotion, if he even was trying to convey anything like that.

"Well, excuse me, but this school is just too goddamn odd."

"Weren't you the one who just a moment ago were boasting about how fucking heavenly this place is?" Bartolomeo asked, leaning backwards with the chair and picking his nose in an obnoxious manner. Kidd caught Wire grimacing in detest in the corner of his eye.

"Well, it's a heavenly place yea, but the pupils here are fucking odd okay?" Kidd looked away from Bartolomeo, feeling embarrassed for whatever reason. Said redhead thought back at the odd affection in the silver-haired man's eyes. Why would he look at Trafalgar like that? Kidd quickly looked over at Trafalgar himself, seeing him sit there lazily, looking ridiculous, as if he tried his best to look cool but was failing badly. What a social idiot.

"Well those two certainly are", Wire nodded. "You better look out for them."

"Thanks, not that they are my only concern. My roomie is a goddamn psycho too", Kidd muttered angrily, feeling mad at Wire's earlier statement. Look out for them? Kidd was a goddamn man, he could protect himself if those two were to pick a fight with him. Frankly, he could probably beat the living hell out of them. The only problem was that he had promised Nojiko not to resort to any kind of violence before graduating from high school.

"Roomie? Who the fuck are you sharing your room with then?" talking disrespectfully with food in his mouth, Bartolomeo chewed in a repulsive and objectionable manner. The guy had worse manners than Kidd, and Kidd had always thought he was the worst kind of swine.

"Trafalgar Law. Detestable guy."

"Detestable? Well, that's debatable", Bartolomeo answered, surprise clear in his voice.

"What do you mean with that? Just this morning he decided to sleep instead of attending to class. Don't tell me that that isn't rude and arrogant. Self-loving and wannabe-smart that's what he is", while uttering these mean things about Trafalgar, Kidd thought back at the cocoon-Trafalgar who had been so oddly kind and felt a little bad. But as soon as he remembered the dissection-incident the bad feeling turned into malice.

"The thing is that he isn't wannabe-smart. He just so happens to be the smartest kid in the whole fucking school", Bartolomeo stated lazily.

"What?"

"Yea, it's true. He even scored full points in the national exams. He has practically completed high school already. All the tests, the essays, everything, he's already completed them all", Wire added, clearly amused of Kidd's disbelief.

"What the fuck? Then… why the fuck is he even here?" he would be lying if he said he wasn't shocked. Actually, he was beyond shocked. He had been sure that Trafalgar would have been an idiot. He should have known – all the good-looking guys were always annoying smartasses. Of course Trafalgar had to be one too. Honestly though, Kidd felt a little disappointed.

"No one knows. He just randomly appeared here one night about a year ago in the beginning of September. The first days he would sit and eat with Smoker in the canteen. Lonely right? He was an even worse nerd than he currently is. Socially awkward and wore ridiculous clothes, worse than Wire's", to the last statement, Wire disagreed with a loud 'Hey! My clothes are fashionable!' "Well eventually he made some friends, and if you're kind to him, he can help you with homework. Sometimes he may complete your essays for stupid payments, such as canned tuna. He's still super creepy and weird, but no one hates him."

"…Trafalgar just appeared here? No one knows any reason of why?" Kidd asked. Admittedly he had gotten ridiculously curious.

"I guess his closest friends know, but no one else. It is known that he hasn't been involved with criminality though. It's actually a quite impossible puzzle to solve, y'know? The pieces don't fit. You either come to this school to improve your grades or because you've done crazy stuff. He has neither of the problems", Bartolomeo yawned. "Oh well, whatever. Why are you so interested in Trafalgar anyway?"

"He's my roomie, remember? Besides, I'm not that interested. You just started talking, and I listened", a small tint of red tried to spread across Kidd's cheeks, but said redhead fought it and prevented it from making him look like a blushing girl in love. He didn't understand why he was embarrassed, but he was. He didn't want to admit that he was interested in knowing more about Trafalgar. Why he even was interested in Trafalgar, was a mystery for Kidd. He had promised himself to hate the guy after all.

By now both Heat and Wire had lost interest in the conversation about Trafalgar and had started to talk about something else instead. Something about cats and fashion – Kidd didn't bother to listen.

"I did?" Bartolomeo smirked in a manner that made it clear for Kidd that he knew. That he knew that Kidd was interested in knowing more about Trafalgar. And the smirk made Kidd want to punch the greenhead, to punch him real hard in the face. Bartolomeo didn't stop smirking though. "I'll only advice you to look out for his friend, Penguin. He's a bastard, doesn't let anyone take advantage of Trafalgar's smartness without his own approval."

"Penguin?" repeating the name with a cracked voice, Kidd almost burst out in laughter. He remembered Bartolomeo mentioning the same name yesterday too, but today it was just much more laughable. Throwing a quick gaze towards the company Trafalgar was sitting with, Kidd could easily guess which guy it was. It was most likely the guy resting his arm around Trafalgar's shoulders so shamelessly. Said guy recognized Kidd's gaze and returned it with a possessive glare, a possessive glare conveying the words 'He's mine.' And that glare made Kidd indescribably furious. Why was he acting like Trafalgar was his? It was clear that they were only friends anyway. Stupid dipshit.

"Yea, his name is Penguin. A dickhead indeed", at this point Bartolomeo leaned closer to Kidd and mumbled with a low voice. "He won't let you near Trafalgar no matter how hard you try."

It took a while for Kidd to realize what the greenhead was saying, and when he did his amber eyes widened quickly and widely.

"I…" once again humiliatingly dumbfounded, Kidd blinked twice, swallowing nervously. "I'm not interested in Trafalgar."

"You aren't? So you've just been looking at him all this time for fun eh?"

"I haven't been looking at him. I'm not gay. I only fuck women."

"Yea right."

§

As predicted earlier, the day really turned out nice – especially the afternoon. Above him the sky glared down at him, boundlessly blue, only a few cotton candy-like clouds drifted by, creating a nice contrast to the clear blueness. Some refreshing gusts passed by, playing with his ridiculously red hair. One could perhaps say that it was an idyllic day, but an islander living in a windy archipelago could perhaps call it an ugly day due to the slightly aggressive wind. It all depended on how you viewed life, perhaps.

He stood at the basketball court a little farther away from the school, simply because there wasn't anyone else there to bother him. Throwing some half-hearted shots, Kidd thought back at the day. He thought of the lessons, of Trafalgar who had sat in the corner of the classroom reading a book on a completely other level than the books the rest of the class had been reading. He thought of how Trafalgar calmly had been experimenting in the back of the class during chemistry instead of going through theory. When they had been assigned different kinds of assignments during geography, Trafalgar had been assigned completely different stuff. And no one had even bothered. Trafalgar did his own stuff and no one even cared.

The last lesson of the day for Kidd had been technical woodworking, which was another subject Trafalgar was skipping. But it was understandable, it wasn't an obligatory subject, and probably something a theoretical person like Trafalgar didn't enjoy. Kidd in other hand loved it, being the practical little shit he was. And since the school was fucking heaven, the resources for woodworking were close to limitless. Also the teacher, Franky, was cool. Without doubt a weirdo, but cool.

During the day Kidd had learnt that the teachers of the school really were as amazing as people had told him. Even though Smoker was a severe teacher, he was skilled at teaching. It was also good to have a teacher who had immense control over things, not letting pure anarchy take over the school. Kidd had just briefly met the biology teacher, Marco, who was a blonde male with droopy, lazy eyes. He had been on his way for a smoke, when Kidd met him; he had even asked Kidd for a lighter.

The guy teaching physic and chemistry was a redhead named Shanks, who had lost his left arm and had odd scars across his face. He was a tad crazy, and the first thing he had told Kidd had been something along the lines of _"Don't worry kiddo, if you grow tired of this place, you may blow it up. Only if you can write the chemical modification for me, that is. Also, the renovations would cost you a whole lot." _Then he had just laughed heartily, leaving Kidd utterly confused.

The math teacher, Hina, was a woman with had pale pink hair and pink skin. The most annoying thing about her was perhaps the fact that she sometimes spoke in third person. Otherwise she was a straight-forward woman who taught you whatever you needed to be taught. Strangely enough Hina also served as the P.E. teacher. Apparently she and Smoker would take turns on that.

But that was about all the teachers Kidd had met so far, which weren't that many. So far he had liked them all however. They all made school interesting, they really did make him somewhat motivated. He hoped that the motivation would stay, that it would last for the whole year, so that he could graduate from high school. He had a resolve to actualize after all. Even if he wouldn't be able to become anything remarkable, even if he wouldn't be able to attend to any further education, he would still have graduated from high school. He would have _something_.

And that was precisely why – even if he did want to punch Bartolomeo for assuming that he was a fag – he would not hit anyone ever again. It had been enough of that. He didn't want to resort to violence ever again.

Kidd took a deep breath of the fresh air and threw the basketball he had found in the corner of the court. He scored another point, this time due to pure luck. He knew he was supposed to deal with homework, but he was just too goddamn tired for that crap right now. 100 points. When he had scored 100 points he would deal with homework.

His mind drifted back to the conversation with Bartolomeo, as he lazily walked after the basketball that had bounced away from the court. He thought about his sudden urge to deny his bisexuality, the great need to deny his interest in Trafalgar. Of course, Kidd had never been open about his bisexuality, most people thought him as straight. In fact no one else but the dudes he had slept with knew that he swung the other way too. Well, the dudes and Killer. He always told Killer everything after all.

In all honesty, Kidd couldn't understand why he felt so desperate to deny his bisexuality or his attraction towards Trafalgar. Maybe denial was easier? Or maybe it wasn't denial at all, but Bartolomeo assuming things? He couldn't tell so he sloppily walked back to stand in front of the basket.

He was just about to throw another shot when a sudden voice startled him; "Whoa, you're pretty good at this, Eustass-ya." Teasing as always, Trafalgar sat on the lower fence close to the basketball court.

"The fuck do _you _want?"

"Take a guess."

"Dissect my left arm?"

"Well, that too. But not the answer I was looking for."

Trafalgar hopped down from the fence with a loud thud. Kidd watched him with a skeptical glare, ready for whatever the psycho was up to next. The picture of cocoon-Trafalgar went through his mind and suddenly Kidd remembered the conversation with Bartolomeo earlier that day during lunch.

"I'm here for revenge", Trafalgar stated sloppily once again trying to look cool. The faked laziness was only ludicrous though.

"Revenge? For what?" still holding the basketball in his hands, Kidd raised his non-existent eyebrows. What the fuck did Trafalgar want a revenge for?

"For waking me up. Don't do that. I need my beauty sleep. So I've come here to dissect that left arm of yours. I suppose one could say you _were _correct with your earlier guess, but not with the accuracy of one-hundred percent", Trafalgar smirked, walking forwards with determined steps.

"You can't be serious", Kidd sighed. Now that he was prepared for what Trafalgar was going to do, he didn't even feel nervous. No, instead he felt irritated. Couldn't this brat feel satisfied with anything?

"No, I am not serious. Correct answer. However it took you a while to figure out the right answer. Work on that, will you?"

Kidd had to take a calming breath to prevent himself from battering Trafalgar right there and then. He was practically fuming. How the fuck did Trafalgar dare to fuck with him like this? And why did he even do it? Why was he even bothering to fuck with Kidd like this?

"You know what, I don't even care. Just go away and stop bothering me, before I throw this basketball in that ugly thing you call your face."

Trafalgar's eyes twitched quickly – so quickly one barely had seen it – but they had twitched. Then he sighed, letting his slim, bony hand run through his dark hair. Damn it. He looked fine doing that gesture. Kidd tried to continue glaring at him instead of having the glare turn into an admiring gaze.

"Oh well, you clearly are a boring peasant. I tried to see whether there was anything interesting about you or not, but I was clearly being too hopeful. Well then, I shall take my leave and let you… play basketball by yourself, or whatever suits you. It is clear that the company of yourhands – or perhaps, more accurately, your _hand _–is more familiar for you then the company of real people", stating it with a clear sarcasm, Trafalgar smirked and left the basketball court as suddenly as he had appeared.

Kidd understood what Trafalgar had meant with that last statement minutes later, his brain being a little slower than the average human's. And it left him furious, scoring 100 points much quicker than he had thought was possible.

* * *

~Thanks for Reading~


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